VV -- a Voice of Communication

Friends,

     With each edition of the Village Voice, it is realized how important a village newspaper is to communication.

      Being the editor is not easy.  They stories have to be factual, interesting, and timely.  Experience and research are critical to citizens knowing and understanding each side of the news.  Today, people are visual, quick readers, and headlines have about 5 seconds to grab and keep the attention of the reader.

     Competition is brutal.  The larger newspapers are printed every day and have reporters that can turn a story in a matter of hours, sometimes minutes.  Their extensive websites can spin many events at a time; their archives can research in seconds; and they can cover an array of news not only in their town but in their surrounding communities.

     Being street-smart as well as intellectually smart is critical.  An editor has a thin line to walk between uninformed gossip and actual truth.  Personalities, events, and situations must be taken into account with every story, byline, and letter to the editor.  Mistakes can be costly and rarely never forgotten or forgiven.

     Ads and advertisements have to be correct.  Shop owners depend on the reliability and the timeliness of their ads.  One mistake can kill a sale and one misprint can cost a multitude of dollars.  Responsibility and accountability stops at one place, the editors of the newspaper.

    With all this taken into account, the Village Voice is an excellent source of communication.  There are times when it gets people upset; times when people marvel at its excellence and research, times when people want to cancel their subscription; times when people applaud it for its newsworthiness.
Whatever the climate; whatever the environment, what would our village be without the Village Voice?  It is an excellent source of communication.

    No one asked for this article; no one expects it.  It is time to say, "thank you, Tim and Marilyn for keeping us informed, helping us understand, and bonding us together as a family week after week."

Very respectfully, Skip