We’ve received a number of complaints lately from people

We’ve received a number of complaints lately from people calling, visiting the office and writing letters to the editor. Our critics are disturbed by the type of news we print in the paper. They’re distressed by reports of court proceedings, board of roning appeals sessions, even by feature stories.

In the face of this barrage of complaints, we’ve decided it’s time to outline what we see as the purpose of a good county newspaper.

That is to report county news as fairly and completely as possible. Not just the pleasant news but all the important news.

Not just the news that’s flattering, that places someone in a good light but all the news that’s pertinent.

We don’t pick and choose which court cases to include in the list of decisions from Judge John Alexander’s General District Court. We print all the cases. Our only regret is that staff limitations prevent us from having a reporter present to cover General District Court in more depth.

We try our best to monitor Circuit Court and generally, we manage to have a reporter at the court house when Judge Shore Robertson takes his seat on the bench. Again, if we miss an occasional hearing it’s because we didn’t have a person free to go.

We feel an obligation to report on the grindings of the wheels of justice. We believe that publicity on the punishment meted out to lawbreakers will serve as a deterent to others who might otherwise commit the same crime. Our purpose has never been to publicly humiliate or embarass anyone.

Our coverage of the county school board, planning commission, board of zoning appeals, board of supervisors, welfare board, water and sewer authority and other local government units is aimed at informing the public. Without an educated populace, democracy doesn’t work.

Government is supposed to function in the spotlight of public scrutiny. A