A county official called about last week’s front-page story detailing the water main break off Jerusalem Church Road, the second water system failure in the neighborhood last month. The story brought attention to aging water pipes there and in Tate. Pipes in both areas need to be replaced, Pickens County Director of Utilities Larry Coleman told us.
But county government, like most governments at this time, doesn’t have any extra money. That means mains at Jerusalem and Tate will have to get by with patch jobs “until the funds become available.” The Jerusalem pipe broke on a Sunday, leaving area homeowners high and dry for an afternoon.
The official who contacted us wanted to know why we covered the county’s waterline break (brazenly blazoned on the front page) but didn’t cover the story of a larger, 10-inch diameter, City of Jasper main that burst July 26th behind Piedmont Mountainside Hospital. That pipe broke twice and left the hospital and nearby apartments without water for part of the day.
In regard to coverage, there was a key difference between these two stories: we were informed of the one but not of the other. No one from the apartments, hospital or city told us of the break near the hospital. With the Jerusalem break, a resident of that area posted a query on our online message board to ask about the Sunday water stoppage. The message made us curious. Why had the water stopped? We looked into it.
Encountering an elected official dissatisfied with news coverage is no real surprise. The Progress hears frequent calls from city and county officials, where they claim the coverage we provide is slanted. One week the county says we’re soft on the city. Two weeks later, the city tells us we nail them “and cut the county slack.”
We take pride in the fact both sides voice the same compliment. If both sides think we’re biased against them, we must really be treating them about equally as we work to keep the public informed.
But as much as we try to cover all significant events hereabouts, some stories slip through the cracks; the ones we never hear about. Sometimes we get a whiff weeks later, (as with the pipe break near the hospital) when such has-been stories are too old to draw much attention. Getting the latest news from around the world on mobile phones and computers within minutes of breaking (especially where it involves Michael Jackson), is anyone still interested in people who were out of water two weeks ago but have it now?
We are not automatically privy at the Progress to the latest word-of-mouth reports you hear around town. Just because someone told you something at the grocery store doesn’t mean they called the newspaper to tell us about it.
It’s not necessarily that people don’t want to tip off the newspaper. But often handling the situation takes priority over phoning the Progress. Water departments of both the city and county willingly discussed their pipe breaks when we phoned, but while pipes were spewing, the water men just wanted to get service restored, not hold a press conference.
News tips, by way of e-mail, telephone, or our front door, are always welcome. Sometimes they make good stories. Sometimes the story doesn’t come together for a variety of reasons. One recent story drew an amazing amount of reaction: the one about the couple who lived for a month in the Ingles parking lot. They came by our office for another reason and stayed long enough to describe their month of homelessness. They didn’t mind talking about it but found it odd anyone would be interested. We were grateful they shared their story.
We also recall a few times we’ve learned of a news story much after the fact. “I just can’t believe you didn’t know about it,” we’ve heard at least once. Yes, we’re not the all-seeing eye in the sky. We are unfortunately left in the dark sometimes.
If there is a story you feel the people of Pickens County should know about, call us, e-mail us, or just come by. It’s possible we’re already pounding out that story, but it’s also possible the information hasn’t trickled our way yet.
So share your news tips at news@pickensprogress.com, or 706-253-2457. |
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