Editorial: We're from the media, we're here to help you

When people think of "the media," they don't always think well of them. (As far as that goes, every time we stop thinking of others as real people, we stop thinking rationally of them. But I digress). 

On the other hand, when people think of "the media," they don't always think of reporters who live in their community. Why should they? For years, the only local reporters were my colleagues Marianne Mueller and Jean Seegers, who formerly wrote for the Herald. (Marianne still does). It's been years since the Register-Star stopped assigning a reporter to Roscoe. 

The Rockton Herald was founded in the 1870s, but Rockton never had a daily paper. South Beloit always got its news from Beloit. Ever since Robert Cross staked his claim in 1835, Roscoe has gotten its news from elsewhere too. It's been 185 years.

Then, in April 2021, Roscoe News, now Rockton-Roscoe News, published its first story online. Now we publish every day - we've become Rockton and Roscoe's first-ever daily news outlet. Most towns don't have one of those. Since 2004, the United States has lost one-fourth of its newspapers, and Illinois has lost one-third. Even where there are still local reporters, there aren't enough of them, and they almost always work for out-of-state conglomerates. We're locally owned - we live here.

Running a hometown newspaper is a public trust. We feel a responsibility to report the news fairly and objectively. But we want to know how well we're doing. And we want to know how we can do better. Whenever you have any feedback or suggestions, you can email me at editor@roscoenews.com, send a message or add a comment on Facebook or Twitter, or call me or text me at 815-408-0140.

Who controls our news? When I worked for a public relations firm years ago, I quickly realized something disturbing: public relations people were behind almost every news story I saw. Every article about the local theme park was based on press releases I had typed up. Every article about the mayor's new proposals were based on news releases from the mayor's press secretary. And so on.

And yet, when Rockford business owners asked a panel of reporters, editors, and news anchors which they preferred to get stories from - business owners or public relations practitioners - they all preferred the business owners. I can sympathize. As far as I know, there aren't any professional public relations people living in farthest northern Illinois anymore. Professional reporters hate their dependence on professional PR staff, but they no longer have time or people to report on everything themselves. 

With us, what we publish depends a lot on you. Community editors have always depended on their readers for news tips. We can't be everywhere and we don't know everything. What the editor of the Rockton Herald wrote in 1908 is still true today: "The news naturally resolves itself into a catch-as-catch-can sort of game unless those who know of 'things doing' either send in their information or 'tip us off.'"

But that weakness gives you power. When civic leaders are involved in controversy, and they want citizens to hear their side of the story, all they need to do is to email us their opinion and we'll publish it. (Same for the other side of the story). If businesses and organizations write up their news for us, if it's truly interesting news, we may just have to publish it. Nature at the Confluence and Natural Land Institute are two examples: we can use almost everything they send us. One of the privileges of being a financial supporter of Rockton-Roscoe News is that you can post events and opinions yourself. Just ask us to set you up. 

As a reporter, I sometimes ask hard questions, but I've realized I always do it from the perspective of a public relations practitioner. That is, whenever I interview someone, I automatically find myself thinking of them as my client.  I ask myself, "When people read this quote, will it bring objections to their minds? Let me give this person a chance to answer those objections." Everybody becomes my client. And when there are opposing sides, both sides become my client. I think that makes my stories more balanced, and therefore, more useful.

In many old-time rural papers, each small community had its own scribe who reported the local news in her own column or section. The local high school had its own page where students could report on Friday night's game or the upcoming dance. Do you know someone in your neighborhood or at your school who would enjoy writing for Rockton-Roscoe News? Please ask them to contact us. We would be grateful if you would invite your friends and neighbors to subscribe to our daily email newsletter, and we are very grateful to those who advertise or donate.