Welcome to 2024, and volume 5 of the Carter County Times!
As we start our fifth year of publication, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been publishing for four years already. When we started this newspaper the country was in the depths of a pandemic. We struggled through teleconferences and remote meetings along with our elected officials and various community volunteers; and we came out the other side more convinced than ever that local coverage of our communities is important.
You all obviously believe that too, as evidenced by the fact you’re currently holding this newspaper in your hands (or reading it online), and we’d like to say thank you for your continuous support over that time.
We still aren’t exactly where we’d like to be, but we’re getting there. We worked hard in 2023 to increase the diversity of voices in the paper, and the number of folks contributing. We added a regular religion columnist with our Bluegrass Bible Beat from the Grayson area Sling n Stone Ministries. We’ve also achieved a long term goal of getting a semi-regular column on library activities with new library director Diane Wingert and her Old Book Lady column.
They join folks like the extension agency’s Rebecca Konopka, and columnist Keith Kappes, who have been sharing their wisdom and experience with us since day one.
We’re also working with Haley May as a new contributor and – though her name doesn’t appear in print as regularly as it used to – Miranda Lewis continues to be a contributor and a valuable team member behind the scenes where she assists with upkeep of the website and helping us stay up to date on items like indictments.
One area we would really like to focus on more is coverage of courts. While we give you regular arrest reports and indictments, we realize that isn’t the full story. To give you that, we need to follow the individuals charged through the court system and trial process.
However, that also requires time; something we have in very short supply.
Sometimes a reporter can sit in a courtroom all day long, and get very little usable material out of it. If they aren’t there, however, they will miss out on the story when a newsworthy case finally comes across the docket. It just isn’t something our editor and chief reporter is able to do and still keep up with his regular duties.
It isn’t that he can’t do the work. It’s work he’s done before for other newspapers. But everyone needs to rest some time. If we’re covering courts during the day, city council and fiscal court meetings in the evening, and then writing all night, that really cuts into time for things like sleeping.
So, one of our goals in 2024 is to hire another part-time reporter. Our stringers are great. But they have families and responsibilities outside the paper that keep them from committing to more hours.
We need someone who can produce content on a deadline, and be available on a regular basis – either to be in the courtroom or to pick up the local government and community group events that take place in the evening.
If you know anyone, have them send a resumé our way.
Speaking of local government, it isn’t just Grayson, Olive Hill, and the county fiscal court that makes decisions that impact our communities. FIVCO is an important regional entity, and one that deserves regular coverage as well. We currently cover FIVCO related projects when they show up to speak to the fiscal court or one of the city councils, but we would like to make an effort to cover more of their regular meetings in the new year too. But like with courts, this requires hours that we just don’t have – particularly when we have overlapping events.
We’ve come a long way over the past four years of publication. But we know there is still room for improvement and growth. We’re committed to achieving those goals for you; even if it takes us another year to do it.
So, thank you for your support – over the last four years and the new year to come. We appreciate you, more than words can express.
The Carter County Times staff
