By Scott Underwood, Herald Bulletin Editor
Community newspapers have the responsibility of exploring public policy and pushing for reform. That was the impetus of our Sunday articles about the practice of family members being hired into Anderson city government.
Reader complaints about the issue intensified over the past several weeks as the city laid off employees to adjust for falling tax revenues. These complaints spurred our efforts.
It’s never easy for a reporter to do the research for such a story. Most of the sources the reporter needs to talk to are reticent because they realize the very raising of the topic might shed a negative light on them.
So I must compliment Aleasha Sandley, our reporter who did the research and writing for the city employee articles Sunday. She tackled the research with determination and handled the animosity of more than a few sources with a steady professionalism.
I also have to compliment many of the city officials who were sources for the story. Despite the subject matter, they accepted our invitation to defend hiring practices. Perhaps they realize that a “no comment” often seems to conceal sinister motives, while a comment at least indicates the willingness to discuss the matter.
Sometimes, The Herald Bulletin and other newspapers become so focused on local issues that they become myopic and forget to look at the issue from viewpoints outside the local coverage area.
One strength of the Sunday package was that it included a variety of viewpoints and news. Michigan City’s mayor talked about his city’s recent adoption of an anti-nepotism ordinance, state law was quoted, and Aleasha contacted an Indiana University public policy professor.
These sources acknowledged that the problem extends well beyond the borders of Madison County and added context about what is being done elsewhere to address nepotism in government.
On our Commentary page, we pushed for reform, challenging Anderson City Council members to draft and approve a nepotism ordinance. We offered a few suggestions for the thrust of the ordinance, but gratefully leave the detail to be hammered out by the council members, who were elected to assure the implementation of sound public policy.
As we prepared Sunday’s stories, one particular source wondered why we weren’t examining the hiring practices of past city administrations. The answer was simple: Those administrations are no longer in office. Plus, as far as I know, we received no complaints during 2007 (my first year as editor of The Herald Bulletin) about the 2004-07 city administration hiring family members.
It might not be clear to readers, but Sunday’s package was the product of months of work to verify family relationships, interview sources and check on facts.
I sometimes hear from readers who are disillusioned because we haven’t produced a news story from their complaints about the practices of local government officials.
We can’t probe every such complaint or even the majority of them. Some can’t be proved. Some would require an outlay of resources that we can’t justify. But Sunday’s articles exemplify our commitment to reporting on public policy — and pushing for change.
And it all grew from the kernel of reader complaints.
Editor Scott Underwood’s column appears Mondays. Contact him at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com or 640-4845.
Read it online
Find Sunday’s articles about family hiring in city government at theheraldbulletin.com.
