COLUMN: Community advisory board will add ideas for news coverage – Enid News & Eagle

Readers may recall back in February, I announced my intention to create a community advisory board at the Enid News & Eagle.

I was thrilled that more than a dozen people reached out to me for consideration on the board. Over the last several weeks, I have had the opportunity to personally visit with most of them. Even though it took longer than I planned to put together the advisory board, I am pleased to announce that five individuals have been selected to serve in this role for the next 12-18 months.

An announcement about the new board will be forthcoming soon, but I wanted to let readers know why the Enid News & Eagle is asking members of the community to work with us in providing the best news, entertainment and marketing products possible.

I want to thank everyone who reached out with interest. Every person I visited with talked about how much this community means to them, and they agree that having a strong local news product is important to the community. Some of the applicants expressed concern or criticism about local news coverage.

This is exactly what I needed to hear because I strongly believe that when people criticize or get mad at the local newspaper for whatever reason it is because they actually have a passion about the newspaper. Its personal to them.

Think about it. How many times have you been upset or angry at business, but you never complained or told them your concerns? You simply stopped patronizing that business.

The news business can sometimes be complicated, and in the case of news coverage, its impossible to please everyone. We understand that, and frankly, have to let some criticism roll off our backs. However, most every concern or criticism I hear can be addressed in some form and improvements can be made.

We have been intentional in selecting this first board to represent various demographics and communities. We want diverse perspectives and people who are willing to listen to each other and provide great ideas.

Our goal is for the community advisory board to be a reality check of sorts for our newspaper. Just as we all operate in our own bubbles in our daily lives, the newspaper business can also operate in a bubble. Our community advisory board will help show us ways to reach beyond that bubble. They will act as informal advisers for us.

We are excited to get started with this new endeavor. As always, if you have ideas or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me at callen@enidnews.com.

Allen is publisher and editor of the Enid News & Eagle.

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COLUMN: Community advisory board will add ideas for news coverage - Enid News & Eagle