Folks,
I have mulled over the local choices in media. We have the Sun-Telegraph as a newspaper, KSID radio station, and a relatively new outlet called the SidneyStageCoach.com. I started writing this blog last year as an outlet for my thoughts and to get into publication views I thought the available press routinely ignores. I know there are a host of people out there who are interested in the views that are not put out by the Chamber of Commerce or the Jaycees. It's not that these groups are necessarily bad or their ideas are patently detrimental to the livelihood of the community.
Indeed, many good ideas have been brought forward by those steer our downtown community and the city in general. However, it should also be noted that good ideas should be able to withstand the test of debate and either be passed, modified, dropped or simply delayed for external reasons. The local press tends to fawn over the positions of the City Manager and against those who oppose or seek to moderate the planned actions of the people who hold their hands out while asking the rest of us to pay for it.
Admittedly, the focus of this blog lately has been on events that are more national in nature. There are ramifications at our end of the state for the choices being made in Health Care, Energy and the Economy. Left unchecked and unrestrained, the current direction would harm low population states such as Nebraska. In much of my writing, I have taken a position that more government intrusion is generally a bad thing and the specific plans the current administration has proposed would perpetuate the recession we are in. The local newspaper and media outlets have taken positions that are either wishy-washy or reporting facts that are just plain wrong.
Publishing has in any form of media has two types of component bias: The writer or presenter's perspective and the structural bias of the choice of medium used to convey the message. The choices in Sidney are controlled by people who are either in the tank for certain public figures or are significantly left of center in their reporting of the news and opinion.
Today, I am seeking to change that with the announcement that the GuardianNews will become a full service EPaper with a local emphasis on current local news, high school reporting, community events and of course, local opinion. It will still be reporting on issues nationally, but will consider the impact those national issues might have at the state and local level.
I am going through the process presently of evaluating the needs for personnel, financing and production scheduling. I will be offering a complete and full service operation with ad services based on an actual click throughs and reporting that I promise will be fair and balanced. Best of all, access to all content will be free to the public and I am anticipating that as the site builds content and readership, it will become the preeminent electronic source of news, sports and local events in the area.
While in college, I participated in journalism, including photo journalism and held positions on the school paper ranging from writer, photographer, advertising manager and ultimately, publisher of an independent college newspaper that serviced the needs of two major universities and several community colleges in southwest Virginia. My background in business and my common sense approach to analyzing the facts led to publishing stories about governmental corruption which eventually led to the resignation of Radford University President Donald Dedmon. My background in leadership is well documented and my path of success is paved with the lessons I have learned over more than 15 years I have been involved with publishing and printing.
I am currently seeking interested parties to collaborate on writing, advertising and editing. Though my beliefs are to the right of center, it will be extremely important to me to have a staff that accurately reflects the needs and views of the community. Responsibility will the the keystone of this outlet's work and with your support and readership, we will make the news something that is good to read for everyone.
You can contribute to this effort by signing up as a follower of this blog, contributing to the financial support by clicking on my chipin widget on the right side of the page, spreading the word about the site and encouraging others to participate. I need your help to balance the bias against the fair and balanced reporting this community deserves and I thank all of you in advance for your support and guidance.
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