When reporters cover stories, their first thought is not "Will this sell newspapers?"Photo Gallery
So, the circus was in full bloom earlier this week over at the C-Tran board meeting.
And when you’re a newspaper at the circus — well — you cover the circus.
Not everyone agrees, of course. And, when I was rummaging around the Internet, I saw a guy complaining about how we were spending too much time on the circus.
“It’s a shame the press doesn’t cover anything but the silliness,” the guy says.
This is false on its face, of course, because we do also cover the content of the meeting. But we don’t ignore the circus.
What surprised me, though, was when Vancouver City Councilor Jack Burkman chimed in.
“I agree, Alex, but their job is to also sell newspapers.”
And that comment is just silly. It is not the reporter’s job to sell newspapers. It’s the reporter’s job to report. Period. Reporters don’t go into an assignment thinking, “Will this sell newspapers?”
The “they’re only trying to sell newspapers” bit is a tired, old line that critics of newspapers often trot out.
Look, Jack’s a good guy. A bright guy. But … really?
I guess I should explain this particular circus that prompted the comments a little more before I get back to our role as reporters:
o o o
For most of us, the composition of the gazillion government boards that exist is simply a non-player. Truth is, we don’t care all that much. That’s not to say we shouldn’t care more. But we don’t. Government has expanded so much you can’t kick a can down the road — one time — without banging it off a board member’s head.
And one of these boards is called C-Tran. Essentially, it oversees public transportation. The vast majority of us have never stepped on a bus. But if you do, C-Tran is looking after you.
And this board is important, because public transportation is important. Especially to the many who do not have access to a car.
Now, this board is made up of a bunch of elected officials from the cities in Clark County as well as the county itself. And that’s because the buses run throughout the county (although mostly in Vancouver), and logic holds everyone should have a say.
But exactly how much say each entity should have? Well, not everyone agrees.
Think of a bunch of 8-year-olds sitting around a table trying to figure out how many slices of pizza each one gets. It can get ugly.
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So there was a bunch of discussion earlier, and it was decided the county councilors would have to lose a seat to give some of the smaller cities a little larger say in things. The county would have to make do with two seats. There was a lot of arguing and bickering at an earlier meeting over this. But a vote was taken, and that was that.
Or was it?
At a meeting earlier this week, all three county councilors showed up, even though there was only room for two.
County Councilor Tom Mielke was the odd man out.
Or was he?
Well, Mielke didn’t give a rat’s behind if there was no seat for him. He just sat right down. He pretended he was somebody.
But he wasn’t.
When a vote was called for he yelled his out.
But it didn’t count.
And the circus dragged on.
o o o
So yes, we covered the circus. And if I had any advice to those who don’t like our coverage, it would be this: Don’t kill the messenger. We’re just doing our job. If you don’t like the circus, tell the politicians who are putting on their clown shoes to leave their juggling balls at home.
o o o
OK, back to selling newspapers.
Now, I’d concede we do need to sell newspapers. But as noted earlier, that is neither the role nor the guideline for reporters. Our goal — and any reputable daily newspaper’s goal — is to print worthwhile information that is informative, educational, sometimes entertaining, and interesting. And hopefully, that will result in selling newspapers.
But there aren’t editors sitting around yelling, “What have we got today that will sell newspapers?”
Heck, if that were the case, we’d run a lot more photos of Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt with his shirt off!
o o o
I was hanging out at the Rotary Club of Vancouver earlier this week and had a great discussion about newspapers. The Rotary is made up of a bunch of cool cats who do great things in this community. Anyway, part of that discussion just happened to be about why we do what we do. And no one mentioned reporters doing what they do to sell newspapers.
Most of us in the newsroom are in it because it’s rewarding, important and stimulating. And we believe we can make a difference. We made a difference, for example, when we reported on the shenanigans in county government which, in part, was the reason why we have a new form of county government. And if we keep reporting on the circus, more changes might come, as well.
If that sells newspapers, so be it. But that’s not why we do it.
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