Off The Cuff Archive

Sometimes, I stay home an extra while on deadline day to write this column from my desk here, with my view of the lake out back, and my favorite songs on the stereo. I write in different tones, with different attitudes, depending on where I am when I do the writing. It is something I have no control over, but I have become aware of the varying results.

 Also, I usually am in a better mood Tuesday morning at home than I am Tuesday afternoon, right before deadline in the office.

 I write from home on Tuesday mornings when I don’t want to write about politics, when I don’t want to write about Grantsville, when I don’t want to write when I’m angry or pitching a fit.

This is usually where I’m sitting when I write those editions about my flower beds.

 This week, as I sit in the environment at home here in Gilmer, and focus on my personal thoughts about work in Calhoun, my brain comes around to settle on one main issue:

 Too much input. Brain overload.

You can easily see what the brain of the newspaperman processes by the articles that appear in the paper each week, but it’s harder to see all the other developments, issues, political plays that we experience and witness but don’t print.

 When you toss it all into the brain pot and stir it, you’ll understand how it can become a lot to process and keep in order.

 What is news? What is gossip? What is politically driven or altered by another’s perception? What do we acknowledge in print and what do we leave out? What is real? What is truth? What is news?

 Aye.

Just because of this staff’s character and nature, I would say we prefer to print the good stuff. I admit freely that I am more likely to attend and cover a fun event than dig up a dirty community development. I would absolutely prefer to watch the fireworks at the Upper West Fork Bluegrass Festival than pick a fight with the local chief of police.

 Wouldn’t you?

 I would admit that I typically prefer to use what I put in print to recognize goodness and potential in Calhoun County. I also admit I am reluctant to print anything that further feeds the outside misconceptions of Calhoun as a backwards, ignorant community of red necks and miscreants.

 I admit to having a few political agendas of my own.

 At the same time, I don’t think we flat-out ignore corruption or lies, or nasty issues. I don’t think we harp on any single organization, office or person for any conspiracy purposes.

 We watch, sometimes, as issues develop. We look away, sometimes, until issues can no longer be ignored. We try to encourage good issues and discourage bad community behavior, and honestly, I believe that’s a good thing--although some may consider it inappropriate for a news outlet.

 That’s what makes us a community newspaper. That’s what makes us The Calhoun Chronicle. We watch, we report, we take issue when the time comes, we do our research and show respect for our community, our subjects, our readers, and our publication.

 The mixture of personalities on our staff prevents any of us from going too far outside the respectable boundaries for a trusted news source. The varied experience, education, knowledge and character of those who work for this paper come together to create the weekly printed results we refer to as Calhoun County news.

 I don’t know anymore what a respectable news source is. Nationally or locally, I do not see a single one that is a “straight” news source without the slightest touch of innuendo, political purpose or lack of professional polish. I no longer know of any entity to which I would compare our character or approach to news. I don’t know how we serve the defined purpose of a “news outlet,” but I think I know how we try to serve our community.

 I just know I can sleep at night, and face the Calhoun community each day without trepidation or shame or remorse. I know I have tried to do no harm, but also have been diligent on my watch.

 When I’m at home, looking out on the lake, I know I can leave work at work and take time in my flower beds without obsessing, and can spend time with friends discussing issues that are not related directly to myself or my job.

 In my mind, more than anything, that is what makes us a respectable news outlet for Calhoun County. It may not apply anywhere else--in the state, in the nation, on the internet or in print --but I believe it works here, in our community.

 Here at home, thinking about my home, my work, my life and living, I realize . . .