It goes without saying that there are times as a reporter when the articles you write are going to make people unhappy. They might make someone look bad or feel bad, or show that someone isn’t living up to their responsibilities, and although I don’t enjoy showing anyone in a negative light, there are some things that need to be printed.

I know that no matter what I do, someone will be unhappy, but I try to prevent that to the best of my ability. I don’t want people to read one of my articles and say that it’s completely one sided, or that it’s unfair. I try to show both sides of a situation and although it can be uncomfortable, I always try to contact the person who may look bad in an article to get their side of the story.

Because I do make those efforts, I really get upset when someone reads an article and still feels that it isn’t balanced. What upsets me even more is when someone reads something that I have no control over, and blames me for it anyway.

Whenever there is a hot topic in Chenango County, it is going to be in an article and probably in “30 Seconds” and the online discussion forums. While the newspaper strives for balance and fairness in all of our articles, comments in the other two venues are based on the opinions of the public, and they can be completely one sided, but those are outside of my control.