This morning the Daily Herald published an article titled “2007 in retrospect” in which each reporter covering the local areas wrote their comments about stories in 2007. The open letter below is in response to this article.
To the “Movers and Shakers of Sugar Grove”:
When Leslie Hauge (an outstanding reporter) was promoted at the Daily Herald to cover Batavia, Nancy Gier (ngier@dailyherald.com) was assigned to cover Sugar Grove and Elburn. I have had concerns about her coverage of our community as there have been many facts incorrectly printed as well as information not being published in a timely fashion. Knowing that covering a new area must be a difficult task, I personally have made every effort to work with her and her editor Bob Musinski (bmusinski@dailyherald.com) by providing factual information and good quotes to be used in their stories. I have reserved my concerns publicly until now as I am absolutely outraged! How dare Nancy Gier belittle Joe Wolf’s civic contributions to this community by calling his Citizen of the Year Award a “consolation prize!” Joe has lived in and served this community for many years (long before my wife and I were even born!) and to speak of his accomplishments in this matter is absolutely insulting and disrespectful. To refer to Joe as being “ousted” from the board is simply irresponsible reporting. There weren’t residents with pitch forks calling for Joe to be removed from the board! He simply was not re-elected which is a far cry from being “ousted” from the board. Joe has served and continues to serve as an important civic leader in our community and I for one am grateful for his efforts. I sincerely hope that these comments that were published by a rouge and uninformed reporter will not waiver his commitment and volunteerism to Sugar Grove.
All of you who have received this email play a vital role in the operations, growth and preservation of our community. I hope you will all consider these comments the next time the Daily Herald calls looking for a quote.
Sincerely,
Ken Wiesner
Sugar Grove Resident
ken,
thanks for pointing out the obvious. i too have commented on the replacement of our reporters. i did so in the official questionnaire that was in the daily herald. I took the time to fill it out, mail it and even included my name so that they could contact me. no such luck! I recently decided that to continue to subscribe when the coverage is so bad, was not worth my money. so, i am happy to say, i am now newspaper-free! I say, read more books!
I also was outraged by this statement about Joe and the Citizen of he Year Award (”perhaps the consolation prize for being ousted from the village board.”) I am at a low point in my appreciation of the Daily Herald coverage of Sugar Grove. This is what I wrote to the reporter and her editor:
Nancy / cc Bob
I am horrified that this statement was made.
Neither Joe, nor the Citizen of the Year Award, deserve the negative
connotation implied by this statement.
Since 1998 the Village of Sugar Grove and the Chamber of Commerce have been proud to co-sponsor the Citizen of the Year award program that recognizes the outstanding contributions of individual effort or group effort by those who continually give of their time, dedication and talents to the community. Whether through individual community service projects and programs or numerous community organizations, the “Citizen of the Year� exemplifies that pioneering spirit in helping our village grow and prosper.
Joe was selected from among the applications received for the 2007
award. It was the committee opinion that he deserved this recognition
based on his years of service and commitment to the community. This is indicated in the Chamber press release: “Joseph R. Wolf, ‘Joe’ to one and all, has been a resident of Sugar Grove for over 47 years and is married to Barb, they have three adult children. Wolf has been
involved in serving the Community in many capacities over the years,
most recently as Village Trustee. This commitment was a growth
experience which began with his involvement reading water meters. He
then moved on to the Public Utilities Rate Committee, and served on
the Kaneland Community School Board for over fifteen years. After
retirement as a tool and die journeyman from Seal Master Bearings, a job he loved and held for forty-six years, Wolf became involved in the Education to Careers program. He is also active in the community
through his service to his church, the Sugar Grove United Methodist
Church.”
To print such a statement that places his honor in the history books as a possible “consolation prize” serves only to devalue the award, the individual, and your publication.
I hope that you will reconsider the intent of the statement. In the
future I hope that you are able to remove the public blemish from the
award that recognized Joe for his lifetime of achievement, verify the
facts, and work to accurately review the history of Sugar Grove.
Beverly Holmes Hughes, director@sugargrove.lib.il.us
1.630.466.4686 IM name: SugarGroveInfo
What I heard back from the reporter Nancy was that I should feel free to write a letter to the editor and that she was writing a piece on Wednesday and would like permission to quote some from my above statement.
What I didn’t hear from her was any recognition of how innappropriate her comments were.
Mari might have the right idea…
Beverly
Ken,
I understand your frustration and I too have that frustration. For the record, I was saddened to see Joe come off the village board. I have a great deal of respect for him and his opinion. I truly value all of his words of wisdom that he gives me. It amazes me that 2 sentences in one newspaper can change the entire perception of one situation. The story should have brought all the attention to his endless effort he has put into his community and school district and the years of dedication and unselfish acts. The election loss was secondary.
Take Care,
Melisa Taylor
just to let you know, i did email nancy and bob at the daily herald and heard back from both. both are asking what else they can do to improve coverage. I suggested that they cultivate contacts in the many other organizations that exist and follow up. I was a little harsh and had said that their coverage was poor. I guess they are a step above poor as the beacon and chronice never even attend the village board meetings. Apparently, others have emailed him because he said he had heard from others. I am feeling better about having cancelled the subscriptions!
mari
Thanks for the update Mari!
While “poor� may have been a “harsh� description, you are not the first to use that adjective. It is true that “showing up� is an important step, however I find myself dwelling on the thought that publishing incorrect information is just as bad as publishing no information. (Especially when there are massive ramifications that effect political elections and referendums that determine the future of our community!)
As far as seeking out the appropriate contacts, I believe that step has already occurred. Wearing my other hat for a moment… I know for a fact that a Library Press Kit was delivered to ALL of the papers regarding the new library site and building and yet only one paper, The Elburn Herald, has consistently and accurately reported the facts correctly. It’s extremely disturbing when someone does all the homework for you and all you have to do is copy and paste and yet information is STILL printed incorrectly. The Daily Herald is a much larger paper with considerably more resources available to them. If the Elburn Herald (which in comparison is a much smaller paper) can get it right, why can’t they?
I have been informed by multiple sources that the Daily Herald will be addressing some of our concerns this Wed. While that is positive that they play on making a statement, it is disappointing to see that it’s taking them so long. After the statement was made about Joe Wolf and Citizen of the Year, an apology should have been written immediately and a retraction printed the following day.
Does it sound like I’m picking on the Daily Herald? Yeah, maybe a little, but that’s only because I grew up reading the Daily Herald and when I see these horrible mistakes being made, it really disappoints me because I know they are capable of doing so much better.