|
From The Observer News
(www.observernews.net) Top Stories By Melody Jameson
The new source of community information will be a monthly product supplemented on a daily basis with breaking pertinent news, Ryan said. It is formatted in standard newspaper style and produced by most of the same staff which previously had created the monthly CA publication, she added. The local “Free Press” is a result of conflicting communications philosophies regarding the “The News” which led to a parting of company in mid-May. Catalyst was a new policy adopted by the CA’s board of directors governing management and content of the printed community news product following months of disagreement between directors and editors. The growing dissension centered on control of editorial or news content in “The News”, with CA leaders increasingly looking back to the publication’s inception nearly 20 years ago when it was viewed solely as the organization’s newsletter, financially supported by the CA and designed to keep resident members informed of community-wide events, club happenings, meeting notices, etc. Over the years and under a succession of editors, the publication gradually evolved, becoming something closer to an independent newspaper carrying both features and hard news in its columns. Under Ryan, a former professor at Syracuse University, and with a contributing staff of 20 volunteers including several seasoned, retired professional journalists, the editorial content began to lean toward investigative journalism and highly critical letters, some of it focused on CA decisions and directors’ actions. The publication also took on advertisers, taking it closer to financial self-sufficiency. Opposing forces came toe-to-toe on May 14. Citing potential legal liability for recently-published information as well as the costs in dollars and time involved in settling a mid-1990s lawsuit stemming from an article in “The News”, a majority of CA directors voted to establish a new publications policy. A majority of “The News” staff, objecting strenuously to several aspects of the policy and particularly incensed by required review/approval of editorial copy by a CA leader prior to publication, immediately resigned in protest. Such review and approval control of newsletter information is common practice within private organizations issuing them but violates a basic tenet of professional journalism practice in connection with news and editorial reportage provided by autonomous newspapers. At the time, Ryan said the policy effectively served to “squelch” efforts to protect the integrity of editorial content. Similarly, Bob Black, one of the professionally –trained journalists contributing to the publication who campaigned and was elected a CA director on the basis of his pledge to keep “The News” uncensored, called the new policy “a power grab” by board members seeking to avoid scrutiny. CA directors moved immediately to facilitate redesign of “The News” under a new editor and since have produced June and July issues of its monthly publication purely as a newsletter. It is distributed via U.S. Mail. Simultaneously, 17 members of the former staff set about creating the “SCC Free Press,” Ryan said this week. Lannie Cardwell, web designer who performed the same services for “The News”, established the internet domain and has designed the new product’s website with an online address of www.sccfreepress.org. Many of the features formerly appearing in the CA publication will be continued by the same writers in the “Free Press,” Ryan added. These include general news coverage and features by Terri Houston, the golf column by Black, club overviews by Walt Cawein, and columns by Paul Courter, along with gardening features by Anne Cross and developments in pet care by Bruce Arnold. The online publication also includes sports coverage and an opinion-editorial page accepting signed, “civil” letters no longer than 300 words, the chief editor noted. The editorial management under Ryan consists of Houston as news editor and Courter as associate editor. The online newspaper’s three-pronged mission, according to its website statement, is distribution of accurate news dealing with safety, health, sports, entertainment and local politics, monitoring of the CA board to keep CA members informed of its actions and maintenance of an open forum for discussion of local issues. ©Melody Jameson 2008 © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
