If you line up 15 random Verde Valley residents and ask them which local issue is most important to them, you’re bound to get many different answers.
Some residents are concerned with the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors’ recent decision on how to split the county into five districts, others have moved on to state redistricting issues, while some are simply concerned with the state of the economy, roadway improvements or education cuts.
Each one of these groups feels their issue towers above all others and deserves the most coverage.
I receive phone calls daily from people telling us we need more coverage of redistricting, crime, arts organizations, national issues or town and city news.
I also receive just as many phone calls from people saying they are sick of hearing about county redistricting or they’re sick and tired of annexation debates.
Some people prefer to read feature stories about the talented individuals who live in our communities rather than stories detailing the controversies dividing us.
The point is, whatever issue you think we aren’t covering enough, there is an equal opposition begging for us to stop plastering the same faces across the front page in what they say is “week after week.”
We try to find new angles to cover old issues to redistricting and those concerned about the economy satisfied while also looking for new stories to engage others.
The same goes for our letters to the editor page. We try to give everyone a chance to voice their opinion.
However, we are a newspaper and not a newsletter, which means our letters page is only one small part of our product as a whole. And in that small component, we try not to let any one issue or one person dominate the page. This, too, is the source of angry phone calls and letters from people insisting their opinion about their chosen cause is worthy of exception and should not be required to follow rules and requirements.
We understand almost everything happening in the Verde Valley is important in some right, but it’s our job to juggle all issues and find a balance in our coverage.
So when you call to either complain we are ignoring you or demand we stop covering other issues, remember we’ve most likely already received a stern talking to or email from your counterpart.
