Nobody’s perfect, but even then misinformation was the butt of jokes- and no media outlet is immune. (Library of Congress photo; City-Times image)

By Brandi Makuski

The City-Times has undergone some major changes in the past few months: expanded staff, internships, lots of training and a weekly print issue. The print issue has been received with amazing regard, and our newsboys look forward to working each Sunday morning, and to their hard-earned paychecks.

We also started having trouble finding space for all the news we cover throughout the week, so this Sunday we expanded our issue by four pages. That’s 28- not 24- pages of news and local advertising. We may look small at first glance, but we pack a wallop with our news coverage, and we’re planning to add coupon inserts and other features in the near future.

Each staff member works their tail off to ensure we can continue this growth, but absolutely none of it would be possible without our loyal readers. Your feedback, suggestions and support- along with the generous support of our advertisers (some of whom have been with us for two years or more) – are our sole means of support, and our driving force behind each issue. Saying “thank you” doesn’t quite seem to cover how grateful we are- or for how your desire for fact-based, ultra-local news is changing the local face of media.

This past Saturday brought us a very unique opportunity- one that is rarely either afforded to or taken advantage of by a news organization. The folks at Celebrate Plover called us up last week to say how grateful they were for all the Plover coverage we’ve provided over the past year and invited us to take a spot in their Corporate Center of the 3rd annual Celebrate Plover event. It was too good an opportunity- we couldn’t pass up the chance for greater exposure to new readers, or to test the water of our public relations skills.

Our staff members braced themselves for the horde of crinkled faces proclaiming, “The Stevens Point City-Times? Never heard of it.” While there were a few, the vast majority of visitors to the City-Times booth were both cordial and excited. One woman nearly tripped over her child to snatch a copy, exclaiming how much she loved the news we provided but never had a chance to see us in print.

I don’t brag easily, and while the compliments are greatly appreciated- and all too rare in the news business- I can’t deny it was the apathy we encountered which most stuck with me. Some of the feedback we received was a bit deflating- but not for reasons you might think. All news reporters hear snide remarks from readers and or elected officials who are unhappy with the manner in which a news item was reported- or the manner in which they infer it was implied. It comes with the press badge. Collectively, our news staff has taken complaints from one alderperson and two School Board members over the past three years that our news reporting “made them look bad”. Our reply is always the same: we report the facts. Facts are stubborn things, and it’s not really our fault if you happen to read something that isn’t there.

But the responsibility we’ve taken on is far greater than anything we imagined when we started the City-Times three years ago; evidence of which was never greater than on this past Saturday, when throughout the day we heard comments that some people aren’t interested in the news at all. One woman admitted she “never paid attention to the local news” because it never affected her, or because it was “too depressing”. One gentleman even approached us with a patronizing tone and a verbal pat on the head: “Not interested. Nice try, but you guys are all the same. You all make a big deal out of nothing, so I stopped reading the local news years ago.”

The sting of those remarks may not be intentionally cutting, but it keeps me up nights. I constantly worry and wonder how to change this place in time when anyone would publicly admit to being uninformed about local issues. Being ignorant of the news, or of one’s local community, was once a source of shame or embarrassment. And it wasn’t so long ago: I’m not yet 40 years old but I vividly remember how widely ignorance once divided friendships, decided business relationships and cemented one’s perceived place in society. We used to want to be better informed- it was not only our birthright, it was our duty as citizens in a democratic republic. Being uninformed was a sign of irresponsibility; being apathetic about being uninformed was a sign of poor character. It was a nearly universal class system which had nothing to do with your health, parents, personal wealth or hygiene.

But today, there’s no such litmus in society. We’ve grown to accept indifference and ignorance as socially acceptable in such a laissez-faire manner that it becomes a way of life, and a basis for important decisions- for too many. We’ve also grown stubborn in our system of political beliefs: the goings-on within our local governments are no longer a driving topic of conversation at the dinner table or the bar. Instead, we debate ourselves silly on issues over which we have no immediate control: national or foreign affairs, the president, the DPI, the governor or the unions. Too often do we volley generalized statements at each other, painting all members of one political affiliation as evil, manipulative or underhanded. Too many of us- including our local elected officials- prejudge and don’t consider all the facts before arriving at a conclusion.

I’d like to say our news organization can help change that, but it’s not up to us to make those changes. And in all honesty, deciding whether change is necessary at all isn’t even our place. We just report the facts- something we’ll continue to argue are relevant around every dinner table and across every bar not only because communication is the key to everything in life. Without it, nothing grows, changes or progresses. You gotta get it right.