May 2, 2007 — There are too many times when working in the newspaper world that ‘negative’ gets promoted. And by that I mean crime, accidents and other unpopular events that are certainly not very fun for this two-bit sportswriter to cover.
But on the flip side of that aspect of community news, there are fantastic opportunities to celebrate local successes – and here goes!
Just in the past two weeks, I have had the absolute honor and privilege to talk about the local newspapers, the cities of Olive Hill and Grayson and the Carter County school system on a local radio show and at a state conference on education.
As a guest on Morehead State University’s radio broadcast ‘The Front Page with Chuck Mraz” I got to discuss with my old friend many aspects of community newspaper. We talked about Carter County sports, working hand-in-hand with the local schools to promote the success of our students in fields such as academics, athletics, music… you name it. He asked me about the student writers at East and West and we even talked about covering Little League. Chuck and I have known each other for a long time and have covered many of the same games the last 10 years or so and I certainly appreciated the time to talk about what’s happening with our local paper.
Then, in perhaps the biggest thrill I’ve had in the newspaper biz, The Journal-Times was asked to present a class at the annual Kentucky Press Association’s High School Journalism conference in Louisville. The KPA has learned of the local papers’ interaction with the schools in Carter County, how together we have established two working teams of student writers/photographers at the high schools and how a fresh-off-the-press school newsletter is now distributed countywide.
Because these endeavors combine the local press and the school system, Carter County superintendent Darlene Gee joined me in conducting the class. In a pair of hour-long sessions, Superintendent Gee and I talked with high school journalism students. As proud as we were at how well our papers and our schools work together, it was difficult to hear these kids’ stories on how most of their attempts at working with their own local papers were not near as successful. We did our best to offer tips and even offered to contact those papers on behalf of the hard-working aspiring journalists. I was able to showcase much of the local work the students from East and West have done on page A4 of each edition. I was able to point out that spelling bee winners, academic team champs, KUNA teams, all had front-page coverage in our local papers. These kids from across Kentucky were amazed – and impressed!
Leaving the conference center that afternoon I can tell you I was very proud of The Journal-Times and the Carter County school system.
And a big thanks to the boys basketball program at East and the girls hoops team from West for their personal invitations to the local paper to attend their season-ending banquets. It was great to get one last chance to photograph, and document, the successes of these outstanding young people. Thanks again, Coach Baker and Coach Perry; your invitation was much appreciated by the paper.
So as you see by most papers, there is a lot of ‘negative’ that fills newsstands, mailboxes and convenience-store counters. But pick up a paper, there is certainly plenty of local ‘good’ news, too!
See you at the game
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