I love that my job as editor of the Cook County News-Herald
brings such an assortment of activities. It is never, ever, boring. I never know what to expect. One minute I’m having a quiet interview with a new business owner or an interesting senior citizen—the next I’m dashing off to try to get a picture of an unusual bird in the park or a boat in the harbor. When I’m snapping photos on the trail to Eagle Mountain or Oberg Mountain, I’m working. That’s when I love my job.
I get to sample terrific food at community events—chowder at North House, bratwurst at customer appreciation day celebrations all over the county, and scrumptious specialties at wine lover dinners. I’ve had the honor of being a judge for the Grand Portage National Monument Rendezvous Days voyageur cooking contest. That is when I love my job.
I get glossy new books delivered to my desk for review and I get to see faded and raggededged old photos of Cook County and its pioneers. I get to hear about new businesses starting up and I get to listen to tales of how things used to be. Thatis when I love my job.
However, there are times I really don’t like my job. One of the drawbacks of being editor is that with just about every issue of every paper, someone is angry with me. People don’t like to see themselves quoted in meetings. They don’t like being lambasted in letters to the editor. And of course if they did something foolish or broke the law, they don’t want attention called to their indiscretion.
It is especially hard to be the editor when tragedy strikes. Someone who has suffered an injury or lost his or her home to fire doesn’t want to talk to the press. All of us at the News-
Herald
try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
However, the News-Herald
has a 119-year history of reporting the news—good and bad. I feel obligated to continue the tradition of Ade Toftey, who was editor when I was growing up in Cook County.
And with the day-to-day adventures of editing come a few little irritations. All of us at the paper are driven to distraction by distractions. Writing a news story or feature is never a linear process. We never get to start writing something and work on that until it is complete. No, the person you need a quote from is not available, so you move on to something else, only to encounter the same situation. It is not unusual for a News-Herald
writer to be working on five or six stories at once.
As editor, I get to see just about every word of every press release, letter to the editor, birth or wedding announcement and obituary that runs in the News-Herald.
And that is what I was actually thinking of as I started this week’s Unorganized
Territory.
I wasn’t thinking of the troubling aspects of being an editor—no, I was thinking of a petty pet peeve of mine.
More and more I have been seeing and hearing people refer to columns—mine, Mitch Dorr’s Coach’s Corner,
Joan Crosby’s Over the Hill,
Jane Howard’s occasional Thisn’ That,
our local minister’s Spiritual Reflections—
as articles. I cringe every time I hear it. One of the most frequent changes I make to letter to the editor submissions is changing “column” to “article.”
I wish there was a good way to get readers to realize that a column is an editorial piece. It is the viewpoint of the columnist. An article is a fact-based piece with no editorializing.
I don’t think this is a problem for just the Cook County
News-Herald.
I think it is a national problem. Americans are getting so used to political pundits spouting opinions on news programs that they have lost the ability to differentiate news from individual interpretation of the news.
I would like people to read thoughtfully, to consider whether the piece being read is information or opinion or conjecture. Perhaps this column— which is an opinion piece—is a start. In fact, if this column gets people to stop calling a column an article and an article a column—I will have another reason to love my job.
It is the newspaper’s duty to print
the news and raise hell.
Wilbur F. Storey
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