How Journalism Affects Rural America  

By B. L. Dotson-Lewis
P.O.
Summersville, WV  26651
bdlewis@access.k12.wv.us or lewis_betty@hotmail.com 

Nov. 20, 2005

Last Friday, Nov. 18, I attended a conference at the Marshall University Graduate School in South Charleston, W.Va.  This conference was sponsored by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

These conferences are geared toward those good people we get our news from the newspaper reporter, lately referred to as the journalist.   This is the second activity I have attended sponsored by this group, made up mainly of veteran journalists.  I am not a journalist, but I attended in the guise of an individual interested in rural life in general, Appalachia in particular -- and I want to learn as much as possible about writing as a self-published author of one book on Appalachia and another one on the brink of publication. 

The first conference, held in Hazard, Ky., was a celebration of sorts with a great deal of flair and ceremony.  The theme of the program related to rural health issues.  Important people such as Tom and Pat Gish were honored.  Tom and Pat Gish, as editors and proprietors of the Mountain Eagle weekly newspaper in the small coal town of Whitesburg, Kentucky, were able to effect change for the good of the working class of people that no elected official could possibly accomplish in a lifetime.  These two wonderful people are educated and educators.  They were people you could count on to handle sensitive issues relating to hardships the poor endured in a kind and caring manner.  They went after the violators of social, ethnic and human issues with the same amount of passion as  tenderness displayed to victims.   Their finances, well-being and safety came after their jobs of reporting the news.   This is one example of how newspaper reporting affects lives.

Below is another example of newspaper reporting affecting lives.  In this instance, the reporting of one story resulted in a huge mad spell and hurt feelings by many citizens of Nicholas County and most especially by the proprietors of our weekly newspaper, The Nicholas Chronicle.  

At first glimpse of the article, you think, "How exciting, our area made the New York Times. Surely this publicity will bring good to the struggling area."  The title of the article was "Uncorking a River" by Denny Lee, publication date Sept. 17, 2004.  Basically, it is a story about claim to fame because of the world-class whitewater rafting on the Gauley River.  I was a little breathless just skimming the article.  There were colored shots and even a video.  But the article did not hold up to what we hoped for, or believed our region reflected.

The reporter made our town, our people and culture into an unattractive and unwelcoming mountain hideaway by using half-truths.   For example, he stated our town of Summersville reported on the front page of the weekly newspaper the annual Potato Festival instead of the whitewater rafting events.  He went on to describe the front page of the Chronicle, stating the paper carried colored photos of the queens, bluegrass musicians and long tables of home grown Irish potatoes and failed to mention one word about rafting.   In so many words, he stated we did not know a windfall like the whitewater rafting deal when it hit us right in the face. We apparently were more concerned with our community activities on the courthouse lawn.  But what he failed to do was research.  A small amount of research would have revealed paper after paper with front-page coverage of whitewater rafting which lasts 22 weeks, and one week of reporting on the annual Potato Festival.  The owner of the Chronicle pointed out to me a photo of a whitewater rafters in the masthead of the weekly paper. 

(excerpt from article) "While the whitewater fans and Summersville locals may share the same geography, psychically they are worlds apart. On the same weekend that Gauley Season kicked off, Summersville held its annual Potato Day Festival and parade, led this year by Sheena Miller, a high school senior who wore a sparkling tiara and a sash that read, ''Nicholas County Potato Festival Queen.'' The entire county, it seemed, turned out to watch the procession of pageant winners, marching bands and backyard potato farmers. Most of the spectators seemed oblivious to the rafters downstream. The local weekly, The Nicholas Chronicle, led its community coverage with a photograph of Ms. Miller posing with a bushel of spuds, while the whitewater event failed to warrant a single mention."

Another issue he reported incorrectly was about women conducting a hot-dog sale at a small church at Swiss, close to an entrance used by rafters. He reported they saw naked men (rafters) and they were shocked.  The women at the gathering told the owner of the Nicholas Chronicle that was absolutely not true.  They went on to say they did not see any naked persons at all, and had made over $2,000 toward purchases for the church on that Saturday.  They also stated they had a good relationship with the rafters.

(excerpt from article) "In Swiss, where many Gauley rafters take out, congregants at a Methodist church were mortified by the sight of rafters peeling off their wet suits and standing more or less naked across the road." He further reported, "Around town, signs depicting a man urinating on the word 'rafters' have sprouted on lawns." That was strange, because no one else has seen that, according a friend of mine who serves on our City Council and is named in the article, Joe Cardullo.

In essence, this reporter created a rift between the rafters and community members that did not exist previously. These few inaccuracies may seem insignificant to the majority of people but to those of us here, many people were hurt and shocked at that news reporting.  No one could figure out a good way to clear up the misconceptions this reporter had reported and the New York Times had printed and circulated all over the United States.  To put it mildly, I do not know of anyone eager to see that New York Times reporter back in our community again anytime soon.

I do not know why the article was written by Danny Lee in such a manner.  I can only speculate -- perhaps a shortness of time, an attempt to add drama to the story, or simply his failure to do any research such as Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette talked about Friday in one of his presentations -- research which is the key to reporting accurately and many times empowering the reporter with additional facts.

The conference held on Friday in Charleston, "Covering Coal," was especially meaningful to me. Now, you would think I know about coal, at least enough to understand what the media is talking about.  But I found out that is not necessarily true.  You see, newspaper people have a vocabulary made up of the same words we use but the words may have different meanings.  The same thing applies to the business world, etc.

For example, Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, refers to taking off the tops of mountains to extract coal as "mountaintop mining."  Cindy Rank, an environmentalist, uses the term "mountaintop removal."   They both used their terms during this session. The news media may use one or the other of the terms but hey, they are all talking about exactly the same thing -- taking the tops off mountains to extract coal.

Another example: Chris Hamilton, senior vice-president of the West Virginia Coal Association talked about coal miners who are not members of the United Mine Workers of America as "union-free."  Wes Addington of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center will call these same miners "non-union."

Now, one of the interesting aspects of this is that the newspaper reporter may use either term.  The way I understand it, in many cases it is according how that reporter wants the public to perceive his story -- from the side of the senior vice-president of West Virginia Coal Association or Wes Addington, who may be defending a miner in a court case.  There is a slew of these words, the same words we use every day, perhaps unaware of why we are using a certain term.

This stuff is interesting.  I believe if more lay people were aware of some of the aspects of newspaper reporting that is only covered in the back room, there could be a huge drop in high blood pressure meds, etc.

The normal folk have usually taken the information reported as gospel. Recently we have found out that is not always necessarily the case.   It would be good to know more about the workings of newspaper reporting.  If the lay person were armed with more knowledge about reporting intricacies, I believe the public would have a better chance of making good decisions.