Reporting the facts

Questions that often come up from time to time when you work in the newspaper industry are “How do you remain objective in your writing?” or “How do you keep from putting your personal opinion in a story?”

With there being so much emphasis on bias in the national media, it can be easy to want to go after local outlets as well and accuse them of leaving out facts to satisfy our own agendas, or keep out our names and those of family members.

At the Independent Record, our main priority is bringing you the news happening here in the county — whether good or bad. It’s a cornerstone that business is based on, and one that’s tempered in practices of good journalism and reporting the facts without personal feelings making their way into print.

That often means a disconnect for us, particularly at public meetings and court cases. In this latter, when there is emotionally charged testimony being presented it can be easy to want to side one way or the other. But, much like the jurors who decide the final outcome in those cases, we are there to observe all sides of an issue.

True, there are interviews of a more personal nature, such as when a former student earns an award, a business opens, or a prominent citizen retires or makes a big life change. But again, we can’t let any bias we might have show. A person’s own words and telling of his or her story is all that’s needed.

One of the most common examples of bias question has to do with our On The Record section. Some might think that if any of our staff or their families were arrested or cited, their names would be kept off the page, as if working at the newspaper affords them some protection. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For those arrested in alleged incidents we print every name, though we do not name juveniles. Circuit court reports include those found guilty of more prominent crimes. If every simple citation were included, such as speeding tickets, it’s doubtful if we’d have room for it all. The same can be said for the police department and sheriff’s office calls.

So if you ever come across a story in our pages and wonder whether we’re keeping something from you, rest assured that we are reporting as much, as accurate and as best we can with the information provided to us.