To Be Fair...

I posted that I would like a good
local newspaper and I criticized
the one we have.

But to be fair, maybe I should say what
I want to have in a local paper.

I want the local news. I want it accurate.
I don't want the names mixed up.
I also would like it to be current.

I want the news in the police blotter
section to be more factual. Not
necessarily names. But "there was
a disturbance on Lake street" just
doesn't cut it. What kind of disturbance?
Was it criminal? Is it something I should
be aware of for my safety sake if I live
on that street? I can live with what happen
and it happen in the 100 block of Lake. So
I don't need names and direct address.
And I don't want it 4 to 6 days old report.
If I heard sirens in my neighborhood last
night, I want to read about it in the paper
the next day. Or the following at the latest.

It is the old newspaper code. Who, What,
Where, How, and When? That is the news,
I want in the rest of the paper. Honestly.
Accurate. Current.

I would like information. Like what is
going on at council meetings. Not just
in Sandpoint. The local paper should
have all of the county. It is suppose to
cover the whole county, so let's hear
about the governments of the county.
I don't care if the town only has 200 or
400 people in it. It doesn't have to be a
word for word accounting. Just the high
points. And no the city clerk should not
have to send it into the paper for the
report, they have enough to do as it is.
This is the papers job.

There should be sports, Obits, and etc.
as most papers have. But this is still
an active area, for fishing, hunting, so
it would be nice to have a column once
a week with what is going on there. Who
is getting what kind of fish. Where to take
your visitors who like to fish? Where to get
that out of town license (in case you, yourself
are not a fisherman).

Maybe a person of the week. Some one
who has done things special for the town,
or someone.Some one from the past, who
still is here, but they weren't a big mover of
building the town.

In our local paper, we do have
"what's it, and where is this" column,
which is nice to read. So maybe they
can add a person type one too.

Also I like to have email address to contact
the reporter. So if I have something to say to
that reporter about their story, I can.

And lastly, a online version of the printed
paper. The full paper. Yes, I would pay for
it. They could charge about half of what they
charge for the printed one. After all, they save
on the paper, and the delivery of it. Ok, maybe
I would settle for paying two thirds of it. But it
has to have everything that is in the printed one.
That includes pictures.

So that is what I would like to see in a
local paper here.

There, that is a little more fair.
After all, it isn't nice to criticize
if you don't have some ideas,for
solution.