Problems with Timely News Reporting in Rural Communities - Essay Example

?Hyukjin Kwon Krista E. Callahan-Caudill ENG104-025 21 March Problems with Timely News Reporting in Rural Communities and the Solutions Thereof As modern mass media communications, news reporting and newspaper publishing in larger cities, if you will, take a technological turn via the internet in order to provide the world with more accurate and timely news, the rural areas on the “out-skirts” of these larger cities seem to still be stuck in twentieth century mode concerning the reporting of timely news. Many civilians of these rural areas often look to their larger metropolitan newspapers, as a sufficient source for timely news and information. However, much of their own rural, community news is never covered by metropolitan papers; only the “big city” news is covered (Cherry). Local newspapers, even the rural ones, are often published only once a week (Cherry), still leaving the rural public with a less than timely news source(s). With this being said, timely reporting of rural news is most certainly a community issue that needs to be addressed (Cherry). Providing means of keeping your rural communities up-to-date concerning its own local news is ideal, and is much easier and more cost efficient than one may think. By setting up a community news website and asking the community to get involved and to support it, it is possible for rural areas today to have an up-to-date, timely, daily news source that will cover the important rural news that metropolitan newspapers and television stations alike often overlook while reporting what they consider to be “big” news. Creating and setting up a rural, community, daily website, depending on how elaborate and detailed you want it, could cost several thousand dollars (Walker) but most certainly would be worth the money in order for your rural community to have unlimited access to rural community news. The first thing one would need to do would be to talk with various web-designers, and tell them that you are looking to build a community news website. Make sure they are qualified and have experience (Walker). Then, ask the web-designer for any information that he/she can give you, including but not limited to; cost to create, design, and also maintain the up-keep on the site. If you find a website designer willing to help, he/she may even set up your community news site and maintain it for free, if you offer his/her company free lifetime advertisements. If you and the web-designer do indeed decide to go this route, sign something legally binding, a contract of sorts, so that each party knows for sure what is expected of them before the co-venture begins. No doubt, this idea could most certainly offer a solution to the issue of timely news reporting in rural communities, especially deep rural communities (Cherry). Next, you will need to get the “word out” and inform your rural community of what your intentions are concerning providing them with an up-to-date web news medium, which will be covering THEIR local news, the news often missed my metropolitan newspapers and television stations. Because many rural communities are not used to change (Cherry), the people of your rural community may or may not be in support of your venture. If they are not, don’t proceed. Wait until they are convinced to go along with your idea, because you will need all the rural support--civilian, business, etc. that you can get in order to ensure the success of your venture (Cherry). The venture is to help them, but if they are not “on board” with you, then no matter how great your idea is, it will not “fly”. On the other hand, if your rural community accepts your venture with and is willing to support it, then your next step will be to go for it! Be sure to let the community know that you are interested in what they would like to see and read about on the “new” news site. Make sure that the people of the public know that you are interested in them, their stories, and ideas for the site. Allowing them to be a part of the rural the news media revolution will most likely ensure their support of your news venture; and rightly so, because the site will be for the rural community as a whole. Encouraging community input, news tip, and such is a must! Also, contact your city mayor and board of alderman. Inquire if there are funds available to support your online news site. No matter how small, rural, or “country” your community may be, there still possibly could be grants set aside to help with community improvements of this nature. Ask your mayor if you may apply for funding, such as city, county, or state grants in order to help you get started. In the meantime, find a/an experienced advertiser(s), offer him/her/them a percentage of the advertisements that they sell. Their public networking will also get the “buzz” going about your new venture; and, paying employees based on commission costs you absolutely nothing (Cherry). Your advertising sales-people will come back and discuss information with you concerning community interest and support. If it’s indeed “supported”, this is yet again another step in the right direction toward solving the issues of untimely news reporting in rural communities (Cherry). Once the community supports a timely online news source, you can then begin making deals with your web-designer, as you apply for grants and/or small business loans, etc. in order to help with the costs associated (Walker). You can also design flyers to post around your community. This is a very inexpensive way to advertise. You can also contact local radio stations and propose that they “trade” commercial ad-spots for web ad-spots. You can do the same with local television stations. For instance, you could offer a local radio station an 8x8 web-print or 30 second video advertisement for a 30 second commercial ad-spot on their radio airways (Cherry). The same could be done for television. This approach, again, will cost neither you, nor the mediums that choose to trade advertisements with you (Cherry). Furthermore, advertising with your news site will, in turn, help to promote their existing media outlets, while helping you advertise a medium that will solely provide the news not provided by their larger mediums (Cherry). You may also choose to advertise on free worldwide social networking sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter (Facebook). Advertising on these sites costs you absolutely nothing, if you advertise on your own personal page or “guest book” page of your proposed news website (Facebook) and can reach millions of people. Or, you could create an interest group in order to see what the public has to say about your venture. Make sure they know that your medium will be covering rural, local news only; the rural public will be getting to see more of their own news, not the news provided by the larger surrounding mediums, which normally excludes much of their rural news. Rural resident, John Owens, who lives on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, became the first quadriplegic in the state of Louisiana to kill a deer on the first hunt. Owens says he was not recognized by his statewide newspaper for his accomplishment. “The only news source that did a story on me was our rural community news website (Owens). Our metropolitan news source, located in Baton Rouge, was not even interested in doing the story on me. I agree that there is a dire need for rural community websites to be developed (Owens).” Owens’ story is actually the reason I became so interested in timely news reporting in rural areas. It was amazing to me that this man, who became the first quadriplegic hunter in his state to kill a deer on the first hunt, did not make the metropolitan news, but instead, made only a local, rural news site. His story is very interesting to me because it is not just newsworthy locally, but also nationally, and worldwide. The metropolitan newspaper closest to him should have done a story on his accomplishment. However, the local rural news site was the only news source that gave Mr. Owens well deserved recognition for his accomplishments. That’s why I’m so interested in keeping rural communities up-to-date concerning news. If a story this “big” can be overlooked by the metropolitan media, then just imagine how many other newsworthy stories do as well. When the rural public sees more stories, such as Owens’, you will begin to receive feedback from the public, which will most certainly help you to make decisions based on public views, concerning the type(s) of news they are expecting to see on your site. Also, advertising on Facebook and such, is nothing but a “win-win” decision/situation and is a vital step toward realizing the public’s view, support or non-support of your revolutionary idea to bring mass media to rural America. It will be important for you to advertise for at least six months to a year in order to get everyone excited and prepared, and looking forward to the mass media revolution that is underway in their rural community. Extensive advertising will get people excited about what is to come, and will give you a chance to get your “ducks in a row” and ensure your success. Effectively networking with the public, especially face to face, will be a great way for the public to get to know you. It will also give you the chance to recognize their advertising needs and means (Cherry). With any news medium, be it any type of news source, you will also need journalists. An inexpensive way to find journalists to write for your site will be by going to your local and surrounding four-year universities and offering internships to those who are enrolled in an accredited journalism program (Parrish). This way, you will get “free” labor. Aspiring journalists are normally more than willing to write for you for free as long as they are given full byline credit for their work. This helps them to build credibility as a journalist, which is exactly what an aspiring journalist is seeking, along with a good reference (Parrish). You will; however, need at least one professional, experienced journalist on your staff to proof-read the stories submitted, correct any errors, and make sure all the information submitted is correct and adequately written. Because journalism laws vary from state to state, the executive editor should also be familiar with what are called “libel laws” within the particular state that you decide to offer the rural news site (Cherry). Your executive would be paid out of advertising proceeds or the money from your business grants and/or loans. The executive editor is your most important “inside” asset and is responsible for making sure your paper is legally qualified and filled with adequate stories. This is also very critical to building a successful rural news source and providing a rural community with a much needed service (Cherry). If you are wondering what type of news stories would be considered “good” for a rural community, here are a few ideas. Most people of rural communities, especially, love to see and read about themselves and/or their children. Therefore, covering local news, such as school news, contest winners, honors roll achievers, etc. always make for a good local story (Cherry). Parents love to see their children’s face(s) and related news stories for a “job well done”. Also, small communities always take pride in their local sports. So, covering football games, basketball games, baseball games, softball games, etc., also make for great features. People in smaller communities are normally very involved in their churches and church happenings as well. So, covering local church events will be a sure winner with the public. Many metropolitan news sources fail to see the importance of including these types of “hometown” happenings as official news; therefore, providing a local rural news website is would solve the community problem of timely reporting local news (Cherry). Covering local politics is also a must; covering city board meetings, elections, political debates, etc. is mandatory. Covering politics can be one of the hardest story/stories to cover because of the intensity associated with politics (Parrish). You have to be unbiased when reporting, which can prove to be a challenge when it comes to reporting politics. For example, if you are not a fan of a current politician, like your community’s current mayor, you can’t write in your paper about what a “no-good, low-life” he is and how he has done nothing for your community. On the other hand, if you are a fan of a new candidate running for mayor, you can’t write about how much greater of a mayor he/she would be without having some sort of LEGAL, documented proof to back up your story. The Associated Press, the national standard for journalism, actually says that if you give attention to one candidate, you have to give equal attention and media space to all candidates in the same running (Parrish). It is not journalistically ethical to report one politician to be the “good guy” and the other or others to be the “bad guy” or guys (Parish). You must report the truth, unbiased (Parish). However, when a certain politician wins an election, it is okay for you to celebrate his/her victory by sharing that news on your news site. Just don’t “bad-mouth” his opponent! In rural areas, metropolitan news sources rarely see fit to cover local, small town elections; therefore, a rural news site would also be a great way for the rural public to become engaged in local, rural politics. As much as everyone loves to report good news, you must also report bad news because the public has the right to know the truth, be it good or bad (Parrish). Car accidents, homicides, assaults, burglaries, vandalisms, and various other scandals must be reported. This is also where metropolitan news sources all fall short, doing rural communities a disservice by not reporting rural accidents and such. When it comes to reporting anything, be it good or bad, the best source for information is your local police station. All communities have these obviously, and officers there can provide you with official police reports, which are public information, meaning the public has the right to see and read the reports (Parrish). Officers are usually more than willing to cooperate with journalists, and hand over reports asked for by the media (Cherry). However, in the event that the news involves a minor, you can not mention the minor’s/minors’ name(s) or publish a picture of them, unless you have permission from a parent(s) or legal guardian (Parrish). Once your rural news site is “up and running” and on its way to becoming “established”, make sure you have a great graphic advertising designer to create good ads for those advertising with you. This is very important because businesses will be looking for “a little extra something” from you, and looking to you to do an exquisite job for them (Cherry). The more satisfied your advertising customers are, the more customers will be sent your way, wanting to advertise with you! Also, be sure to keep your website updated daily; and, get the news on the site as quickly as possible. Also, your online news site will evolve, making your rural community even more updated concerning mass media. And once the website has taken off and is becoming successful, you may even want to add and provide a corresponding weekly or biweekly hard copy to sell in local stores and businesses. Once your business is “booming”, you may even opt to have a corresponding daily hard copy. If you decide upon producing a hard copy, you must have special insiders to draw the public to your hard copy newspaper (Cherry). The hard copy must have something different to offer in order to make the public want to purchase it; otherwise they will get their news via your website, especially if it is free. In conclusion, beginning a mass media revolution in your rural community is becoming increasingly essential because metropolitan news sources miss so much of the news that is so important to the people of rural areas. This essay provides not just the reasoning for the need of updated news sites, but also provides a solution to the issue(s) at hand. It’s non-debatable that online news and media websites are very much needed in many rural communities, especially in the deeper rural areas. Look out America! Daily news is coming to your rural communities! Work Cited Cherry, Bessie. “The Need for Updated Rural News Websites”. Letter Press Publications. Executive Director of Communications.2011. Walker, Charles. “The Cost And Proposal for Setting Up Rural Community Websites”. Walker Independent Website Creations. Owner. 2011. Parrish, Tommi. “Fair and Unbiased Reporting”. University of Tennessee. Professor of Journalism. 2005. Howard, Charlotte. “The Hair Marketing Gal”. Facebook. “Five Unique Ways To Get Free Advertising 25 July 2010. Web. 24 March 24, 2011. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=463242151419 Owens, John. “Only A Rural News Website Covered My Achievements”. Central Speaks News. centralspeaks.com. 3 Feb 2011. Web. 24 March 2011. http://www.centralspeaks.com/louisiana-quadriplegic-kills-on-the-hunt-yet-again/ Read More