Paper cuts!
Sue Brooks September 6th, 2008
I find it often frustrating, sometimes pleasing, regularly annoying, monotonously depressing but always interesting to read articles in our local Chronicle about Council staff, Councillors and Council activities. I am glad that we have a local press and that we have some free newspapers in circualtion also, but I always remember two things. Firstly The media survives as a business and can only exist if it makes a profit and secondly what we read in the newspapers is often inaccurate or incorrect.
I don’t agree that anyone, in particular our community leaders, should use the media for personal political gain. I don’t believe that journalists or editors should spread rumour and gossip. I also worry that our media focuses so heavily on negative news that we begin to believe we live in a world where everyone is ‘bad’ and that everything about society is ‘bad’. I would appreciate a more equal balance.
So to the recent stories about Council. I didn’t ‘go to ground’ anywhere as is reported today and I haven’t found any messages on my blackberry alerting me to any requests for interviews. I regularly respond to any questions that I am asked by our local journalists and am happy to do so. Yes there are personality differences within Council which is absolutely normal when you put together 11 strong minded and opinionated people and a new (to most of us) CEO and Directors and Managers. Yes it is still a time of learning about all that went on throughout all the Councils prior to amalgamation, including all the very good works that were done and also the things that could have been done better with the glorious option of hindsight. But all in all I think the Fraser Coast Regional Council has done an excellent job so far.
I think there is always room for continual improvement and an opportunity to fine tune how best we run Council meetings and ensure that we do consult with and inform our community better about the things we do. I totally agree with Ms Bates comments on Friday that Council should not be run ‘like a party room’ and I am determined to have my say and vote accordingly, based on what I believe is the right course of action and in the best interests of the community. It is important to be able to agree to disagree and move on to the next decision while respecting the views of others. I don’t think it is productive for the media to focus on negative comments and emotional outbursts. I would much prefer it reported on how Councillors vote and why they vote the way they do. Then the community will gain a better understanding of what actually ‘goes on’ in a Council meeting.
Please take what you read in the press with a pinch of humour and a peck of disbelief. I used to believe everything I read in books and in the newspapers but now I realise that what we read is often not entirely true and can unintentionally misrepresent incidents and events. We are all human, we behave and experience the world as individuals and sometimes what we write is interpreted differently to what we mean.
I couldn’t start my morning without a cuppa and a paper to read. I enjoy learning about happenings within our community and the wider world mixed together with some great humorous cartoons and letters from our neighbours. In other words love it or hate it I still read it!
- Council related issues
- Comments(0)