I have, in the last six months, received several requests for the paper. I want to address these comments.
People want more pictures. Legally I have the right to take a picture of anyone in a public arena, but I always ask. Some are wonderful; they don’t want their photo taken but allow me to anyway. For those of you who have graced the pages of the Mountaineer, I thank you very much. It is true; everyone wants pictures! However, if a person is reluctant, I don’t take their photograph, and I respect their decision.
One of the most significant requests is when I put pictures of children in the paper; there are no names under the photograph. I will put the names of students 7th-12th in the paper. However, I do not put the names of a grade school student in the paper. It isn’t illegal to do so, but it is highly recommended not to. Being I am still on a huge learning curve, I take council with those in the field that have years of experience.
Some people have asked why I didn’t put a particular picture in. Sometimes it is because I don’t have room. I try to make the best decision on what needs to go in and what gets cut, and I’m sorry if my choice and yours don’t agree. There are other times I don’t have a picture, or the picture didn’t get to me by the printing deadline. The deadline is Friday morning. Because putting the paper together is like a six-page or an eight-page jigsaw puzzle. It takes time! We have to have it sent to the printers on Monday Morning if we get something on Monday morning, that frequently means having to change almost every single page of the paper.
Sometimes the quality of the picture is poor before we get it, or I have taken poor pictures myself and can’t fix them.
Other requests have been that we put in the paper the agenda for both the high school board and city council board meetings. I have asked for these in the past, but having the agenda completed in time to meet the Mountaineers deadlines is difficult.
I was asked if I could put a list of movies that are currently playing in Havre. I thought it was a good idea; however, the movie theater will not sponsor an ad, and I never seem to have enough space to place it in the paper consistently.
This is probably the right place to say, although I would rather have a more substantial paper regularly, a six-page Mountaineers will be sent out when I only have enough advertisements to support six pages and no more. So, when you see a six-page paper, you know the reason is a lack of advertisement to have a larger paper.
People also liked the Sheriff’s docket, called? And have asked me to continue to publish it. I made the decision not to for two reasons. The report you have to go through to find exciting dip bits to publish in thick and time consuming to go through. I’m short on time. Secondly, I don’t want to publish articles that increase the negative gossip that goes around Big Sandy. I will publish an incident if I have more information, I feel the community needs or deserves to hear.
Lastly, there are some events I don’t cover because I can’t get to it to do so.
