Editorial Comment: The Information Age In Hermann - Or Is It The Misinformation Age?

Straight from the horse's mouth .....
An editorial comment by Clark Kant, Editor In Chief

The Information Age has come to the City of Hermann much as it has come to the rest of the world.  Hermannites enjoy the use of all manner of modern day communication devices such as cordless telephones, voice recorders, mobile cellphones, pagers, iPhones, Blackberries, flat screen digital HDTVs, personal computers and so forth.  Hermannites routinely communicate with other people by telephoning them, by paging them, by text messaging them, and by exchanging emails with them.  Sometimes Hermannites even communicate the old-fashioned way by talking to their neighbors face-to-face in coffee shops, restaurants and smoke-filled taverns. 

Hemannites are as internet savvy as any other group of people on the planet.  We surf the net.  We purchase items and services online.  We blog, exchange ideas and "hook-up" with people we've never met.  And for the past two years, we've been reading local daily online news accounts published by various news media outlets.

The concept of daily online news reporting was first introduced into the Hermann area a couple years ago by Jeff Noedel when he began publishing HermannMuenster.com, along with various other local online news websites like BergerWithCheese.com and others.  Last November, the business partnership between Jeff Noedel and Glenn Warnebold came to an abrupt, angry and controversial end.  HermannMuenster.com changed its name to HermannNews.com under the ownership of the Warnebolds and the new online news service remained in their offices on Market Street, while Jeff Noedel and his staff moved around the street corner to an office on west Fifth Street.  Mr. Noedel soon re-emerged with his CountyNewsLIVE.com website.  So now, whether we really need them or not, we have two daily online news outlets ..... HermannNews.com and CountyNewsLIVE.com.  Along with The Hermann Advertiser-Courier and HermannAdvertiserCourier.com which are weekly publications and HermannHearsay.com which publishes articles on an irregular frequency basically whenever we damned well feel like it, it seems that we have more doggone local news stories than the average Hermannite can possibly read ..... unless, of course, he/she is retired or incarcerated in a penal institution of some sort.  I suppose we shouldn't complain about all of this local news coverage.  Afterall, it's much better than being totally uninformed.  Or is it?

Consider for a moment what we have gained since daily online news reporting first came to Hermann:

1. We now get duplicate and sometimes triplicate coverage of many local news stories.  How many accounts of city council, county commission and feral cat committee meetings do you really need or want to read?  The articles all end up looking pretty much the same to me!
2. We receive more coverage of the Hermann Bearcat sports teams than St. Louisans receive of the Cardinals, the Blues and the Rams.  Why do I need all this coverage of high school sports anyway?  I guess it would be fine if I had a snotty-nosed, spoiled teenager playing on one or more of the Bearcat teams!  Thankfully, I don't!
3. We've had the live webcams monitoring the intersection of Fourth and Market Streets, the entrances to Peoples Savings Bank on west Fifth Street and now we have the Fourth Street webcam.  Whoopdeedoo!  Why does Jeff Noedel think that I have the need (and the time) to be a mind-numb voyeur, sitting at my computer and watching Hermann people drive down Fourth Street?  Answer, Mr. Noedel?  I don't!  And I seriously doubt whether anyone else is interested in Fourth Street traffic.  Now, if you want to install your live webcams at the county courthouse and the city administration building to broadcast the weekly county commission meetings and city council meetings, I just might be interested.  Check around.  Maybe others would be interested as well.
4. We get daily weather reports brought to us by Dave Murray of FOX 2 News.  Why do I need this?  I watch ol' Dave enough on TV already ..... morning and evening.  I can also go to Weather.com whenever I feel the need. 
5. We get the obituaries of local people.  Are the obituary cards printed up and distributed by our local funeral home no longer sufficient for my needs?  Thanks, but I read these at the local coffee shops and restaurants.  And if I happen to miss any of the little cards, I can always refer to my weekly edition of The Hermann Advertiser-Courier.
6. We get nice photos of very tasty-looking food offerings by various restaurants throughout the county.  But wouldn't it be nice to also get the associated aromas?  Now that would really be super cool and revolutionary!  We already have digital high-definition video and audio broadcasting.  But wouldn't it be nice to have high-definition olfactory broadcasting to enhance our experience on these daily online news sites!  Get on that project, Mr. Noedel!  You could make journalism history!  And put Hermann on the map in so doing!
7. We get YouTube video clips.  Don't they think I'm capable of going to YouTube.com and watching video clips on my own?  I usually look at the funny ones and the political ones rather than the old TV commercials from yesteryear.
8. We also get lots of press releases sent out by every inconsequential organization in town and every inconsequential organization outside of town.  Why do I care when they're having their chili suppers?  Chili gives me gas.  Give me a break, Jeff!  If I'm not a member of these organizations, I don't give a tinker's damned what they're doing!

Now consider what we are not getting that we could and should be getting from all of our local high-powered journalistic talent:

1. Investigative reporting and critical exposes on the following topics of local interest:  "Whatever Happened To Jon Held And The GCCS?" ..... "Whatever Happened To The Horace Brown Engineering Study Regarding The Courthouse Access Road?" ..... "Have There Been Any Further Cat Burglar Incidents At The County Collector's Office?" ..... "Pigg Hollow Road - How Is It That So Much Money Was Spent On This One Particular County Road?" ..... "1,000 Hermann Feral Cats - What Are Their Names?" ..... "Chip And Seal County Roads - Is Associate Commissioner Jerry Lairmore Still Proposing The 1/2 Cent Sales Tax Hike?" ..... "State Auditors - What Are They Finding In Their Gasconade County Audit?" ..... "Whatever Became Of The Recommendations Made By The State Auditors In The 2002 and 2006 County Audits?" ..... "Gasconade County Courthouse Renovation and Office Expansion - Is Presiding Commissioner Ron Jost Still Looking For A Plan?" ..... Etc.  Maybe it's easier to publish "fluff" pieces rather than dig for information into the serious and important stories that readers really want to know about?
2. Editorials about matters of local interest.  I know our local daily online news publishers must surely have opinions, but we rarely see any op-ed pieces published on their websites.  Maybe they are just afraid of pissing off their paid subscribers and/or advertisers?  Here at Hermann Hearsay, we have NO paid subscribers NOR do we have paid advertisers.  We are a FREE site.  Therefore, we are completely FREE to speak our mind.  And if our readers don't like what we have to say, they can just go elsewhere!  We're not interested in winning any popularity contests here in the Hermann area!
3. Some lifestyle articles or regular columns like:  "Gourmet Food Recipes" ..... "Dating Tips For Old Farts" ..... "Wine Rankings and Wine/Food Pairing Recommendations" ..... "Beer Rankings and Beer/Food Pairing Recommendations" ..... "Best Cigar Lounges In Gasconade County" ..... "Sex Tips For Seniors" ..... Etc.  Do you think I'm asking too much?  It's just that I'm thinking I might be lured into laying down the price of an annual subscription IF I could get authoritative information on a few subjects like these!

Finally, there is one last thing I have to complain about.  And that is the lack of curiosity, penetration, objectivity and balance when reporting on city and county government matters.  I have observed way too much lack of curiosity by our daily online news publishers and reporters when they report on the operations of our city and county governments.  Trust me, there are stories behind the stories.  You know it, and I know it.  Why is it then that our new daily online news reporters stop short of investigating and reporting the real stories behind the stories that some of these government officials would have us accept?  Is it that there is too much pressure to put out quantity rather than quality?  Too much pressure to publish "35 short news articles over a weekend" (and then brag about it) rather than spending the quality time to thoroughly investigate some of the things that really need to be investigated and reported to the public?  Or does their superficial treatment of local government stories result from their feeling that problems and controversies are to be avoided?  Are the reporters and their publishers reluctant to publish the truth and risk alienating the government officals they are covering?  Afterall, if you alienate the people you are covering, you might lose your access to these people.  Best to go along to get along?  But what does the loss of access really matter if it means that you and your daily online news organization are having to positively "spin" the stories you publish about these people so as not to have your access cut off?  Hmmmmm?  The lack of complete objectivity and balance in reporting government news stories is also a problen.  I have observed far too many instances of this over the past two years.  When I have pointed such problems out in the past, my criticism has not been well-received.  As far as I can see, this problem (the lack of objective and balanced reporting) continues.  The problem will likely continue for two reasons:  (1) the public is not pushing these online reporters and publishers to "tighten-up" their loose, sloppy reporting and in many cases is not even aware that their reporting is being spun to make certain government officials look bad while at the same time making others look much better than they actually deserve and (2) certain of these reporters and publishers are just too arrogant to ever accept the criticism of their reporting and publishing that I am expressing.

Yes, the Information Age has come to Hermann.  Information is readily available to us through various media and from various sources.  But we must be careful to think critically and always question the validity, accuracy and completeness of the information we receive.  When reading news articles published in either a traditional printed newspaper or in an online news website, we must always ask ourselves:

1. Do we trust the reporter and publisher to deliver a fair, objective and balanced accounting of the story?  What are their personal biases and grudges?  Do we know?  Are we sure?
2. Does the reporter or publisher have any reason to "spin" the story one way or the other?  What do we know about their relationship or lack of relationship with the people they are covering in their news article?
3. Is there a "bigger" and "more important" story behind the story which has been published for the public's consumption?  If there is, in fact, a "bigger" and "more important" story behind the story, why are the reporter and publisher not telling us that story?  Are they blind to the "bigger" story because they lack sufficient curiosity as a journalist OR are they intentionally hiding the "bigger" story from us?  If they are hiding the "bigger" story from us, why?

So, where do you get your information?  Do you trust the source(s) you use?  Have they earned your trust?  Do you need to be reading all the information they are providing?  Is it worth your valuable time?

The explosion of information and the nearly instantaneous availablity of information in this Information Age can be a blessing or it can be a curse.  Make sure you are getting the information you need from trusted sources.  Ask yourself whether there is a "bigger" and "more important" story behind each story or news article you read.  Understand the fact that every reporter and every publisher has their own unique set of personal values, biases and preconceived notions, and ask yourself whether you are being "spun".

Clark Kant
Editor In Chief
www.HermannHearsay.blogspot.com