“Find out what they want and give it to them!” – Mike Joseph
Alan NeSmith
Thursday afternoon, I had the pleasure to speak to the Habersham County Rotary Club. President Spencer Carr asked me to talk and I gladly excepted. You see, this Club was the first meeting I attended when moving to our community. And now, the once group of strangers have become some of my best friends.
During the talk, I was able to make clear, once again, something I firmly believe. I’m not a member of “the media” and your local newspaper is certainly not a member of “the media.” I’m a community newspaperman and The Northeast Georgian is a community newspaper.
The media gets a lot of negative publicity these days. It has become a strong tendency to knock “the media” by politicians and hard-working taxpayers, too. Believe me, I cannot even keep my mouth shut, often getting called out by Heather, when the nightly news comes on. She often says, “You need to be quiet or leave the room.”
So, I understand and most of the time leave the room.
The Northeast Georgian is a local run community newspaper. Our coverage focuses on three items in this exact order: local, local, local. We want to know what is happening in Habersham County with our local residents.
The reporters of your local newspaper cover the same beats week in and week out. Their aim is always to get it right. However, we are human and do make mistakes from time to time, but you can always find the correction or clarification if one is needed in the next edition on page 2.
Our reporters don’t fly in and fly out. This allows them to understand and report the complete story.
In business it doesn’t boil down any better than what Mike Joseph said, “Find out what they want and give it to them.”
Dear reader, what are we missing? Many of you call, email and send us notes. However, we want all of our readership to understand we want to hear from you. If you have a news tip, please share it with us.
Please know we are also and foremost defenders of the First Amendment. Your right to free speech is just as important as ours. You see, this is why we have these two pages. These are the opinion pages, and they are reserved for you our dear reader. If you have something on your mind, please write a letter to the editor. Worried you might may write a typo? Don’t be, that’s why we have Editor Matthew Osborne.
Our Letters to the Editor policy is basic and to the point. Please look to the left and read it. And please do me a favor and make your voice heard. There is no need to feel like you must bash and elected official. In fact, what I would really like to see is an idea to make our community better or a highlight of why Habersham is a great place to call home. However, the message in your letter is completely up to you.
Aim to make your voice heard. And until we hear from you, we’ll keep the space open.
Alan NeSmith is the chairman of Community Newspapers Inc. Reach him at anesmith@TheNortheastGeorgian.com.