Monday, March 31, 2008

Deaths of prominent citizens are page one news

Jimmie Hinson spent 21 1/2 years as pastor of the First Assembly of God Church in Carthage and was a past president of the Carthage Ministerial Alliance. His death, however, did not rate page one in the Sunday Carthage Press.

At a time when newspapers are losing readers right and left, the last thing they should do is ignore local news...and the death of community leaders, past or present, should always be big news. If the deceased is a person who currently holds office, is a key player in the business, cultural, or academic communities then it rates page one coverage because of its immediate effect on the community.

If the person is one who played a major role in decades past, then it is the newspaper's job to remind the community of just who that person was and what his or her contributions were.

The Press cannot be faulted for its lack of local content on the first page of its Sunday edition, but it is embarrassing, on a day when Rev. Hinson's death should have found a place on the front page, for the lead story to be about Carthage Senior High School's Big Man on Campus contest. For those of you who are not familiar with this tradition, high school boys dress up like girls in this competition. The Press ran a story and four photos on the top half of page one. Should it have been covered? Absolutely. The Press is a community newspaper and school activities should be covered, but perhaps this was not the day to have that big of a package on page one. A photo on page one and a reference to an inside package might have been a wiser move.

The rest of page one included a photo and story on the groundbreaking for a Missouri Southern State University building that is being named after longtime Carthage businessman Stephen Beimdiek. I have no complaints about this package. It belongs on page one and deserved the prominence.

The lead story, along with the Big Man on Campus, was reporter John Hacker's story on the prospect of more flooding. Again, it is hard to argue with the importance of this article, considering all this area has been through with flooding over the past several days.

The local content was far better than it has been on many days for The Press, but the neglect of Jimmie Hinson's death was inexcusable.

The disconnect between community newspapers and their readership began when the beancounters decided to charge for obituaries, and then extended it to wedding, anniversary, and engagement announcements. In small communities, these are the big news items, people want to read about them, and if newspapers do not care about what goes on with the people in their communities, why should the people care anything about whether these newspapers continue to exist?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure nobody at The Press has any idea who Jim or Norma were or what they did for the community until Knell Mortuary sent them the obituary.

Speaking of Press Coverage, has Buzz Ball stepped aside for John Hacker? Of the 20 stories under their "News" tab Buzz has only one story on people filing for elections. And he had one column in recently about the death of a kid from Neosho. I hope he gets back into the ballgame here in Carthage. John Hacker and Rebecca Haines are going to collapse from exhaustion soon at this rate!