Journalists keep an eye on things

My friend Jeff texted a link the other day that reminded me how good we have it here in Citrus County.

The link, which I’ll provide momentarily, is to a report that shows an alarming number of communities across the country with very little or no local journalists.

Using a variety and combination of data that only a geek like me could appreciate, the Local Journalist Index determines the number of journalists per capita in each U.S. county.

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Citrus fares pretty well. It shows 9 journalists per 100,000 residents, ranking us 13th in Florida and in the top third among 3,141 U.S. counties. Marion County is 10th in the state, Levy is 12th (how’d they get ahead of us?), and Hernando County is 26th with 5.5 journalists per capita.

Florida as a whole…ugh: 45th in the nation. That’s lovely.

Here’s the link. It’s fascinating stuff, and a little disconcerting to us in the local government watchdog business.

Several thoughts came to mind after reading the report.

For one, how did I end up in this line of work? Good question.

It started with a fondness for writing. I took my first journalism class in high school, and then experienced the fun of government reporting at Central Michigan University’s student newspaper CM Life.

Small-town journalism was always my deal. While my CMU friends were getting hired at metro newspapers in Michigan and elsewhere, I landed in Big Rapids (the only Big Rapids in the United States), a small college town about an hour west of CMU.

After five years, I moved to Florida and took up residency at the Chronicle. First year on the copy desk, followed by 33 years of general assignment reporting. Local politics, School Board, cops, courts…that kind of stuff.

Let me tell you about those days. Citrus County, with a third of the population it has today, enjoyed the presence of FOUR local daily newspapers. The St. Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, and Ocala Star-Banner all had Citrus County sections in their daily newspapers.

With Gerry Mulligan running the show, the Chronicle was top dog. 

Ah, those days of fierce competition. It was fun in a hair-raising kind of way. We’d come into the newsroom each morning and glance at the competition, praying for a clean day with no news scoops from the other papers. 

One scoop during the week…not good. Two scoops…best to stay underground. Three scoops…guaranteed call into Gerry’s office for an unfortunate chat.

And you know who thrived through all that competition? Citrus County citizens. The amount of work and commitment that went every day into providing the broadest news coverage will never be repeated. First, the Star-Banner left. Then, the Trib. Eventually, the Times closed up its Citrus edition, leaving the Chronicle on its own.

All these years later, the Chronicle is still here.

The Chronicle is a true community newspaper. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of charitable and community organizations owe their success to Chronicle coverage.

So, yeah, I gladly join the chorus saying how fortunate we are to have a true community newspaper.

Just Wright Citrus balances out what the Chronicle does not provide. I don’t need to get into all that; readers know the difference. The point is, Citrus Countians definitely have local journalists keeping an eye on things around here.

Gripe all you want about the messengers, but at least we have some. Think it doesn’t matter?

The Sierra Club, Adventure Coast Group, kindly invited me to speak at its meeting in Brooksville last December.

After talking about all the cool subjects the blog and Citrus Countians have covered, someone asked sincerely: “Can you start a Just Wright Hernando?”

I totally get it. I’m in Hernando County frequently, and there are massive developments being built north of the Brooksville/Spring Hill area. Citizens show up at government meetings and are frustrated when local politicians ignore their pleas to stop the madness.

Hernando County, population close to 200,000, has no daily newspaper and no news blogger that I could find. I’m sure there’s social media chatter here and there, but nothing to organize the masses to the point where politicians need to pay attention.

That isn’t our problem in Citrus. No excuse not to have a basic awareness of what’s taking place.

Once again, I’m so appreciative to JWC readers. As of Thursday night, we were a few shy of 8,500 Facebook followers. Hundreds of others read regularly but do not follow. The blog keeps cooking.

Information is power. Citrus County is plugged in.

Have a great weekend, friends.

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