Scenes such as this are just plain good for the soul.
It's the bucolic time of year, and, oh, has this year been something else in the bucolic department!
Birds are singing, flowers are pretty, gardens are growing and life is generally pretty darned good.
Lost in the '50s, Sandpoint's epic spring celebration, starts today and what a grand weekend it will be for folks getting out, enjoying the vintage cars, the parade and all the complementary activities associated with the event.
Sandpoint Magazine hits the streets today, and, as always, and like every other writer/artist/photographer, editor who worked on the publication, I'm excited.
Even Annie who's off in Spain, taking a rest day on her Camino, contributed to the Summer 2023 edition.
She took a picture of Barry Stoddard who is featured because of his book Baikonur Man.
I submitted my usual Natives and Newcomers feature (two natives and two newcomers) and an upbeat feature about camping at the Bonner County Fair, which brings to mind a story with a totally different twist in today's Daily Bee.
I have included thoughts about that situation below.
Anyway, it's a great day in the neighborhood and a great and pretty day to be alive.
As a journalist, I have a few questions about the message above and the front-page news story in this morning's local paper regarding this message.
Knowing some of the history of controversy with the proposed RV park at the fairgrounds, I wondered why this statement suddenly showed up on Facebook yesterday.
Is Facebook now serving as the official medium for reporting a countywide entity's major decisions?
Is the "he said, she said, somebody unknown said" guideline going to continue dominating the county's official business and its subsequent reporting?
Was this message proofread before it was posted?
Why are the Fair Board members' names not listed?
To do so lends credibility. Failing to do so creates doubt.
In the news story, the Facebook message was attributed as the source Fair Board's decision regarding the Bonner County Fairgrounds RV park.
How do we even know that the statement is authentic?
Did the reporter talk to individual Fair Board members to verify the Facebook statement before writing the story?
If so, why were those members not credited as sources?
The more credible, named sources representing various perspectives, the better.
Usually a story about a decision, based on a highly controversial public question such as the the RV park grant for the fairgrounds, includes direct quotes or even paraphrases from the actual decision makers.
I think the public deserves much more precision and care with communication from all entities---journalists and public servants alike---especially in hot-button issues such as this.
When gossip is flying, the journalist bears responsibility for getting the story straight. And, when you put out a statement such as the one above, put your name(s) on it and proofread it.
Also, maybe consider using the official community newspaper as the means for releasing your information.
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Just some thoughts from an old lady who cares about this community, who still tries to do her best at following the basic rules of journalism and who counts on professionalism from public entities.
Let's all try to do a better job at serving the public.
If everyone would just do their part with more care and respect, maybe we'd have a lot less acrimony and more time to enjoy scenes like those in today's pictures, which soothe our weary minds.
Happy Friday.
1 comment:
Well said, Marianne! Bravo!
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