A community paper has community duties

Lou Marzeles
News Editor

     We held our weekly Friday morning Java Talk meeting, which this publication hosts, last week.      Among the comments that came of it was straightforward criticism of The Sentinel. It came from a person who clearly had strong feelings about the matter.
     And that's great. I told the meeting, when those comments came up, that I took them seriously-the observations he made about shortcomings in the paper, I should say. Personal taste and opinion I can't address; it's a fruitless exercise to try to make everyone happy.
     But if there's a problem with execution of professional responsibility and competency in the conduct of this newspaper's reporting, I promise you, there isn't a person on the planet who will take that more seriously than I.
     Having said that, it's useful to go over a few facts about the paper. It has an editorial staff so small that it sometimes feels like we're trying to bilocate in our efforts to be everywhere that legitimately demands the paper's attention. And it will come as no surprise that the paper's available resources do not enable it to provide every feature possible.
     But these factors don't matter in regard to how well we do those things we can do. I want to know how readers feel about that, and about what you want to see covered in the paper. I can't commit to being able to meet every request. I can commit to doing what we are able to do with high diligence and thorough journalistic responsibility.
     We're also trying to be proactive in the community, to provide features and services for it that might not otherwise be available. That's why we started Java Talk. Judging by the growing attendance and response to it, that program definitely fills a need.
     A community newspaper, first and foremost, must serve its community. It must reflect the lifeblood of the community, its interests and concerns, its aspirations, and its highest inspiration. It needs to be as natural and comfortable as favorite slippers, and fully as functional. That's what we're going to do.