Brazil Times

Talk to me

Posted Monday, September 24, 2007, at 5:32 PM
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How hard is it to return a phone call?

I never returned phone calls. Or I would take three days to remember to look at my voicemail.

It was never intentional, just a bad case of forgetfulness.

And now that bad karma is returning to me.

The most important part of writing stories is talking to the people who are involved. It could be sports, hard news or a feature. People are news.

Today, I think I've made a dozen phone calls. One person answered, and the rest have gone to voicemail.

And I wait, and I wait, and I wait. I have stories partially written on my desktop, but they can't go anywhere else until I can talk to someone.

I don't think I waited this anxiously by the phone in middle school.

I promise from now on that I will answer every voicemail in a timely fashion. Who knows who is waiting by their phone.

Comments
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Melinda,

Thank you for your honest,clear speaking reports. It has been a breath of fresh air. You are reporting the news the way it should be, Objectivley and honestly. The readers should be the ones to judge their opininions based on the facts and not what the reporter wants them to believe.

Welcome to the Community and Thanks again.

-- Posted by growupnow on Tue, Sep 25, 2007, at 6:39 AM

Dear Melinda,

You need to be careful as to who you are getting your facts from. Your story is exactly one of the reasons I no longer subscribe to the paper. "Growupnow" is not getting all the facts either and she needs to find out who's telling her the truth.

Have either of you ever heard the saying, "Figures never lie, but liars figure?" Food for thought.

-- Posted by wiseupnow on Tue, Sep 25, 2007, at 3:35 PM

Dear Melinda,

I noted that you are the new education reporter. I don't know if you realized that when you took this job in Clay County that this school corporation is in complete disarray. This is not a place where you would want any of your friends or relatives to teach at, please find out what the corporation has been doing to teachers and report it correctly. This is soon to become national headlines because the national NEA is starting to step in and help the teachers of Clay County.

-- Posted by 5longyears on Wed, Sep 26, 2007, at 12:57 AM

Melinda,

Do you honestly think if all teachers were offered a 12-15% raise, we would have been stupid enough to turn it down? That is a prime example of some people not printing or telling ALL the facts for your stories. You may want to try getting both sides of the story. Sorry you got in on such a mess, but if these partial information stories continue, it will keep getting worse. So glad to hear the NEA is stepping in. It's about time this made national news!

-- Posted by 5yearstoolong on Wed, Sep 26, 2007, at 4:42 PM

Melinda,

Welcome to Brazil. Nothing like being thrown into the fire. The ad put in the paper, paid for by taxpayer dollars, was nothing more than political propoganda trying to make the teachers appear as money grubbers. I teach in the district and have watched my paycheck go down the past two years because of rising insurance while inflation has gone up. Today there was an article in the Terre Haute paper about the ad that stated who paid for it, why it was put in there, and gave the viewpoint of the teachers. The last proposal was a raise that would benefit only those teachers with 18 or more years of experience. Because the board wants to cut retirement benefits for teachers, anyone under 18 years of experience would suffer a net loss. In addition, the board wants to cap what they pay for insurance which could potentially spell disaster for a young teacher who is the breadwinner for his or her family. The last proposal was nothing more than an attempt to split the teacher union pitting older teachers against younger teachers. It won't work. The proposal was a slap in the face and so was this "ad." Good luck, Melinda, this will be a doozy of a story to report on, but above all, report both sides accurately.

-- Posted by cubsdog on Thu, Sep 27, 2007, at 8:27 AM

We voted for the school board. In return, we hope that the school board reflects our best interests. It does. If we wanted to give the teachers a raise instead of fixing our schools, then our votes would hopefully reflect that. The issue has to do with who we have voted for. We need to think about how well they properly represent their population. If people want to cry and moan, maybe they should vote for who they want to best represent them. Or better yet, run for the office themselves and take on the task. With the voting rate of Clay County, it can be proven, with statical empirical evidence, that not everyone voted. How can this democracy work without the population speaking? Maybe it is? Vote... If you didn't Vote.. SHUT UP!

-- Posted by Criminology08 on Thu, Sep 27, 2007, at 11:00 PM

I may add... I am not saying or this has no reflection to Melinda's article. It was great.

-- Posted by Criminology08 on Thu, Sep 27, 2007, at 11:01 PM

Melinda,

Welcome to Clay County. Please do not let the negativity of this community get you down. As you have already found, there is a vocal minority who cause this community to be drug down to depths that keep it from growing and flourishing.Each group has it's own agenda and is not interested in the community as a whole, only in what they can get, or get accomplished. You are doing a great job of giving an honest effort to fairly report both sides of issues with the information you gather. It won't be easy, you will be pressured from all sides to exploit their own views. As in all arguments there are 2 views and somewhere in the middle of it all is the truth. The only way to reach that point is to be fully informed of all sides, which is what you are trying to do. Thanks again, don't give up on us, honest information is the only way this county will survive in the coming months. Remember this, If Noah had listened to the masses he would have never built the ark!!!

Studentsfirst.

P.S. If there were no comments posted, it would be a good indication that you were not doing a good job.

Thanks again,

-- Posted by studentsfirst on Fri, Sep 28, 2007, at 7:05 AM