A Special Announcement for Turner Report/Inside Joplin readers

(I originally posted this on the Inside Joplin Facebook page and on my personal Facebook page on Sunday. Since that time, I have received some helpful suggestions and some volunteers.)

Ever since the "retirement" of C. J. Huff as Joplin R-8 superintendent, there have been some people who wonder if I will have anything to write about.

While I am certain that those of you who have been reading the Turner Report since it started in 2003 and who remember my work at the Carthage Press, Lamar Democrat, Newton County News, Lamar Press, and Lockwood Luminary-Golden City Herald have faith that I would continue to find interesting things to write about, I am not content to leave it at that.

I have hinted recently that I have some big plans for the next step for my blogs and here are a couple of them. I plan on increasing my own coverage of various news events, but I am one person and let's face it, I can't be everywhere, I am not getting any younger, and I am not making enough money to hire reporters.

So I am going to let you hire the reporters and perhaps even serve as the reporters.

I have heard the editors of various newspapers complain that they cannot convince people to provide them with news. If they bring it in, we will run it, they say. But they are not going to pay for it because their owners, who do not live in this state, whether you are talking about the Joplin Globe or many of the smaller newspapers in the area, are not willing to pay for it.

So I am going to try something new, something that has not been tried in this area as far as I can tell.

I contacted some people who have worked for me before, or people whose work is familiar to me. Some have agreed to give it a shot, including a writer who will concentrate primarily on coverage of art, drama, music, and Joplin area culture.

At the bottom of each post contributed by this writer, or any of the others who participate will be a PayPal button. Those who like the author's work or who want to support coverage of the arts can contribute as little as 50 cents or a dollar every once in a while or you can contribute any amount as large as you want. Eighty percent of the money will go to the writer, with the other 20 percent going to the Turner Report/Inside Joplin.

So far, in addition to the arts reporter, I have contacted two people who have worked for me as columnists in the past, including one who lives in Joplin and one in a nearby community. I plan to contact more potential writers this week.

But this new idea is not limited to those people.

If there is someone who would like to provide coverage of Joplin High School sports (or any area school for that matter) or the JHS Band or a particular elementary school, whether it be in Joplin or the surrounding area, please feel free to give it a shot.I will use the same pay plan outlined above. Please contact me and let me know beforehand, so there will not be any conflicts.

If you want to cover a particular activity or group and put the 80 percent toward that activity or group, that can easily be arranged..

I would love to hear some feedback on this idea and any suggestions any of you might have. This is new territory, but when this begins, I expect to have columnists who are of a higher quality than those featured regularly in the area's newspaper of record and I expect to have a much-expanded coverage of Joplin and the surrounding area.