Hit me with your best shot; editor seeks reader input

July is half over, and for those of you who might not have been following my columns since the beginning, that means we’ve officially been together for half a year.

A lot can happen in six months — but for a city the size of Maricopa, I never would have guessed before accepting an editorship with the No. 1 daily source of local news and information that so much could possibly take place.

But, believe me, it does.

My only regret is that we are not able to publish more than a fraction of what’s out there that could possibly be considered newsworthy in our daily mix of stories and photos. For every story we write, there’s another one we could have written.

That means we are forced on a daily basis to make choices regarding which meetings to attend and which ones to follow up on with a phone call, which press releases to rewrite and publish and which ones deserve our full attention in the form of writing an original piece with solid reporting.

We need to decide when to linger long enough to ask questions and when to publish what’s on hand so we can move on to the next item, possibly of equal or greater importance.

In June alone, we made such choices at least 141 times. That’s the total number of headlines we ran atop news, sports, real estate, community, business and education stories, in addition to opinion pieces both written in-house and by our readers.

Since January, we’ve profiled local candidates and provided in-depth city election coverage to help voters make up their minds before heading to the polls. We’ve shone the spotlight on a few local causes designed to help families in need meet their financial and medical challenges and profiled numerous businesses to help consumers find new places to meet their needs.

We’ve not missed a City Council meeting or neglected to research and publish monthly statistics on the number of homes sold and how much buyers were willing to shell out to make them their own.

And, when at least one scam artist rolled into town intent on fleecing Maricopans for more than the $5,000 she easily pocketed in either cash or market value for goods and services within a few short weeks, we exposed the leader of the Suite 16 Girls as nothing more than an opportunist long before it was popular to second-guess a house full of young women who undoubtedly as individuals had the best of intentions.

Although many scoffed, and still do, we stand by our decision to investigate anyone — regardless of how harmless they might seem — if their intent is to take advantage of otherwise unsuspecting readers.

We also stand by our decision to go after and secure access to the police blotter, and any other public records we might request in the future, to help us provide Maricopa with the most in-depth news and information possible.

So, what’s the point of this column?

While it might seem like it’s to pat ourselves on the back, the intent is actually the opposite.

It’s an open invitation for you, our readers, to tell us how we’re doing.

As your editor, it’s important for me to know what’s working and what’s not. If our mix of stories is dead on with what you want to read, please say so. But if we’re missing the mark, please say so, too. My guess is that we’re somewhere in the middle. Without your input, however, we might not know which direction in which to move to get it exactly right.

I’ll admit that most of what we in the news department do is based on direction from the owner and publisher who has been covering news in this community longer than I’ve worked or even lived here. His insight and advice is invaluable.

Even so, with 300 new families moving into the city each month and ever-changing issues, I’d like more specific feedback regarding what you’d like to see covered on our Web site as we enter the second half of 2008.

Oh, and don’t worry. I put on my fire-proof, bullet-proof gear before putting myself out there and basically inviting my readers to give my employer a good reason to send me packing. So don’t worry about hurting anyone’s feelings.

After all, this isn’t about me. It’s about you.

And I truly look forward to listening to what you genuinely want me to hear.

RuthAnn Hogue is the editor of inmaricopa.com and 85239 The Magazine.

Have an opinion you’d like to share with Maricopa? Please email it and any applicable photos to [email protected] for consideration. For more details, click here.

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