Letter from the Publisher

Not our project

In the newspaper business you find out a lot about people’s passions and what is important to them.

When something is important to folks they want to tell you what warrants a story and what does not.  I always listen, and I try to be as helpful as I can, knowing sometimes there isn’t a story to tell. 

The last couple of weeks I had noticed a gentleman in the NewsPress several times talking with one of my reporters. I didn’t think much about it but was told he wanted us to write a story. 

I saw the same gentleman come in last Tuesday and this time he wanted to visit with the editor. She wasn’t here at the time and a receptionist at our front desk said, “Our publisher is here. Would you like to visit with her?” 

He said he would. He came into my office and talked to me about a passion he had for kids and wanting to help them. He said he wanted to get a community center built in Stillwater. 

He wanted the NewsPress to write a story about it. I told him I appreciated his commitment to young people but I didn’t feel like there was a story to tell right now. 

He seemed to be upset at this point because that wasn’t the answer he wanted and he said, “If you won’t do a story then what can I do?”  

I said, “You can talk to city and county government, visit with our mayor, send letters to the editor, talk to people and see if they feel the same way about  wanting  a community center as you do.”

 He seemed to be pleased with that answer but continued to talk to me about other things in his life, and I listened.  I finally told him I needed to get back to work and I wished him luck.

I had to be out of the office on Wednesday but when I came back to work Thursday the gentleman came into the office again.  He wanted to see me and we visited a little bit.

And then he said he wanted to show me something. He went out to his pickup and came back with a sheet of paper.  I started to read it, thinking it was going to be a letter to the editor.

It wasn’t. It was a survey, written by him I assumed, but it had my name at the bottom. I said, “Sir, you can’t put my name at the end of this survey.”

He wanted to know why not.

I said, “First of all, I didn’t write it and you didn’t get my approval to put my name on anything. I’m not the editor, I am the publisher - you have that wrong, and second this isn’t my cause; this is your cause. Why don’t you put your name on it?”

Oh he couldn’t do that, he said - no one would help him. I said, “Well, you can’t put people’s name on something without their approval.”

He then tried to tear off the bottom part of the paper. So I said, “Let me help you,” and we cut off the bottom of the survey. 

Then he said, “I have handed these out to a lot of people..”

I said, “Then you need to collect them and take ownership of your cause and put your own name on it, not mine or the Stillwater NewsPress or anyone else for that matter, unless they want to sign it.”

He said he understood and that he was sorry and left.

Nevertheless, the surveys were distributed. And they are not from me or Stillwater NewsPress.

Does Stillwater need a new community center? Maybe. Maybe not. But when we distribute surveys to our readers you will find them inside our newspaper.

Pam Nelson

NewsPress publisher