From the editor’s desk: Not all our great stuff ends up in print
Published 5:00 pm Sunday, April 7, 2024
- A puppy snuggles into a cardboard box while being weighed Dec. 15, 2023, at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Pendleton. The puppies, which are weighed twice a day during their first few weeks of life, are part of the Joys of Living Assistance Dogs program.
It’s a sad truth about the printed edition of the Chieftain: Each edition has a finite number of pages.
As a practical matter, that means I have to keep the focus as local as possible when I’m deciding which stories make the cut for the printed edition. Which of the stories on our list have the most impact on Wallowa County? Those are the ones I try to make sure get into each Wednesday’s printed edition.
But that means I have to make some tough decisions about stories that I know would be of interest to Wallowa County readers — but don’t just have quite enough oomph to justify space in the print edition.
The good news is that I have another place for those stories: The space available on our internet site, wallowa.com, is limitless. So, as often as I can, I post stories on our website that I think will be of interest to at least some of the Chieftain’s readers — and one of the things I’ve learned in the 18 months I’ve been working on the Chieftain is that our readers have a variety of interests.
For example, our website gives me the room to post stories and columns about state government — especially in cases in which the doings in Salem might have a real impact on Wallowa County.
It also gives me the space to post stories from the Chieftain’s sister papers in La Grande, Baker City, Pendleton, John Day and Hermiston — stories with a regional resonance that I can’t quite squeeze into the printed edition.
The website also gives the Chieftain a place to post stories that might be outdated by the time the next print edition comes along: A good example is a story we posted last Thursday about forecasters (correctly, as it turned out) predicting that a winter storm was about to hit the county.
In general, when I post one of these stories, I’ll send out a notification on the Chieftain’s social-media channels, Facebook and X (the previous name for Twitter). It’s not that I’m trying to clog your social-media feed — rather, it’s just that it’s something I think you might want to know about.
In the past week, here are some of the stories that I’ve posted to wallowa.com that didn’t quite fit into the print edition:
• Puppies raised inside the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution have started their training — and inmates play a big role in the training, which is aimed at turning the puppies into service dogs. This story features a photo of a puppy snuggling into a cardboard box. I’m just saying.
• Questions raised in the wake of a fatal avalanche sometimes can be interpreted as blaming the victim. But columnist Molly Absolon, in this piece for Writers on the Range, says asking those questions is an essential part of educating ourselves about avalanches — and in the long run could help reduce fatalities.
• The four Republican candidates for Senate District 29 (the seat that retiring Bill Hansell held) tried to separate themselves from their opponents — but still found plenty of common ground — during a forum last week in Pendleton. (To be fair, there’s still a chance this story might sneak into the Wednesday print edition, but we might wait for the April 28 election forum in Enterprise.)
• Do you have questions about the May 21 primary election? Even if your first question is “Wait; there’s an election coming up on May 21?,” this story has the answers.
That’s all good stuff — and it’s all available online right now.
In the meantime, we’re still working on Wednesday’s print edition, which is scheduled to include these stories:
• The blast of weekend winter weather didn’t keep The Young Americans performing arts group from setting up shop in Enterprise, where it ran a camp for Wallowa County youth. Everyone involved was scheduled to put on a show Sunday night; reporter Daniel Brooks watched the process from Friday’s opening sessions to Sunday’s show.
• We’ll start our series of profile stories about candidates running for the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners. (Those stories will appear weekly through the May 1 edition.)
• Speaking of the county commissioners, they sent a letter last week to Oregon and Idaho political leaders urging them to start discussions about the Greater Idaho movement, which advocates aligning much of Eastern Oregon, including Wallowa County, with Idaho. (This story already is online.)
• And the Wallowa County Farmers Market will be moving to a new location in Joseph, in the wake of a unanimous decision by the Joseph City Council. Opening day for the market is May 25. I’ll have that story up as soon as I get a moment to write it.
All of this is part of the Chieftain’s efforts to cover Wallowa County news to the best of our ability. As always, if you have a comment or question about the Chieftain, or want to suggest a story idea, email me at editor@wallowa.com or mmcinally@wallowa.com.
Meanwhile, if you haven’t already, take a moment to register your subscription for digital access of the Chieftain. Call 541-963-3161 to talk to a member of our customer service staff, who will be happy to walk you through the process. It’s easy, takes just a few moments to set up and allows you to take advantage of our e-edition, app and website delivery along with your print subscription.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to once again thank the Chieftain’s subscribers: It would be impossible for us to do this vital work without your support.
Mike McInally is the editor of the Wallowa County Chieftain. You can email him at editor@wallowa.com or mmcinally@wallowa.com.
