Over the last week, we’ve heard from readers wondering why the Gazette did not cover the “Fight for Freedom” gathering held by the Northampton Democratic City Committee at JFK Middle School in Florence on Dec. 19.
“Where was the Gazette?” Northampton resident Stan Schapiro asked in a letter to the editor.
It’s a fair question and one that we — as a news organization that regularly asks tough questions of other influential institutions — should answer. In the process, perhaps I can provide some insight into the choices we face in covering our community in the era of soon-to-be President Donald Trump.
So let me get right to the point: Do I wish we had covered the event at JFK?
Absolutely.
Did our decision not to do so reflect a lack of concern or respect for the people at the event or the issues they discussed?
Absolutely not.
Like all news organizations, we have a limited staff of reporters, editors and photographers. Every day, we must make tough choices about which of many possible stories we can cover. And even the best-laid plans change when unexpected events — the news — happen.
While Trump scored an electoral victory Nov. 8, he didn’t come close to winning the hearts and minds of most Hampshire County voters. In the days and weeks after the election, the Gazette was flooded with letters, op-ed columns and requests for coverage of events organized by people who fear what the Trump administration will do to women, immigrants, the LGBTQ community and others for whom he has expressed scorn.
We have covered as many of those events as possible. But at the same time, we have decided it’s important to continue reporting the other local stories — ranging from town board debates to business creativity to quiet acts of neighborly valor — that animate and define our community.
So how did “the Fight for Freedom” event fit into this ebb and flow?
First of all, we recognized the event as one of public import. I can attest to that, because I wrote a news item that appeared in the Dec. 17 Gazette, two days before the event featuring a panel moderated by former Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins and including Congressman James McGovern, D-Worcester; Bill Newman, attorney and director of Western Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union; Ann Lynch, state assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division; and Mehlaqa Samdani, executive director of Critical Connections, an outreach group specializing in improving understanding of Islam and the Muslim Diaspora.
“We all have concerns, anxieties, and questions about how the new administration will affect our civil rights and basic freedoms, as well as changes we can expect to the economy, environment, judiciary, and our country’s relationship to other nations, to name a few,” the article quoted Elizabeth Silver, chairwoman of the Northampton Democratic City Committee, as saying. “To the extent possible, the panelists will provide concrete information and productive responses to what we’re facing, what we might do to prepare, and what we can do as the new administration unfolds.”
I then flagged the event, which was to be held on a Monday evening, for possible coverage on Dec. 19. But that Monday brought an unusually heavy flow of other news, and our staff of five news reporters on duty that day scrambled to keep up.
Staff writer Michael Majchrowicz covered the sentencing of a Florence man convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls entrusted to his care, a significant case made more unusual by the group of motorcyclists who arrived to form a protective shield around the victims.
Amanda Drane chronicled the demolition of Shaw’s Motel, a story about not only a bulldozer’s work but a chapter in Northampton’s history that saw a compassionate business owner provide safe haven for many of the city’s mentally ill.
The other reporters on duty that day wrote not just one story, but two.
Caitlin Ashworth told us about students at R.K. Finn Ryan Road Elementary School who wore pajamas to school as a way to encourage donations to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund providing holiday gifts for needy children. (The fund is run by the Gazette.) She also wrote about the aftermath of a fire that had ripped through the 1772 home of Southampton’s town moderator.
Jack Suntrup wrote an article describing plans for a 96-room hotel proposed on the busy Route 9 commercial strip in Hadley, and another about a call for volunteers from the organizers of the MANNA Soup Kitchen Christmas dinner.
And Scott Merzbach wrote one article about a decision in Amherst to seriously consider switching to a mayor-council form of government, and another about an Amherst native’s “Immigration Nation” campaign to provide legal assistance to undocumented immigrants who fear their future under the Trump Administration.
And that’s not to mention the photographers who were providing still and video images to accompany many of these stories, as well as others that appeared in our features and sports pages.
By the time the evening “Fight for Freedom” event occurred, we had pretty much exhausted our resources for coverage that day. But with more than 500 people attending, you might reasonably ask, couldn’t the paper have paid a reporter to work overtime and cover it?
Yes, but here’s the rub: We did not know beforehand that so many people would attend. And — significantly — we did not have reason to believe it would cover ground that had not already been covered in the previous days and weeks.
The Dec. 19 event was the latest in a series of protests, rallies and forums held in response to Trump’s election and other news of consequence. In the week leading up to it, the Gazette had featured front page articles on a rally making an impassioned plea for the victims of violence in Syria (Dec. 19 ); activists barricading an Amherst bank to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline supported by Trump (Dec. 17-18 Weekend edition); a public meeting in Easthampton to discuss whether to declare it a “sanctuary city” for immigrants pursued by federal officials (Dec. 16); a Northampton forum on immigration issues under Trump (Dec. 14); a push to declare UMass Amherst a “sanctuary campus” (Dec. 13) and religious leaders talking about whether their congregations might offer refuge to undocumented people (Dec. 12).
Given that previous coverage and the press of other important local stories on Dec. 19, we made the call not to staff the gathering at JFK. After hearing in the days that followed about the size of the crowd and the passion of the discussion, we were sorry that we had missed it.
So it goes in a community newsroom. We try to use our best judgment in making coverage decisions, and I like to think that we get most of those calls right. But sometimes we miss an important story — and we count on you to let us know when we do.
Thanks for reading. For caring. And for keeping us on our toes.
Jeffrey Good is executive editor of the Gazette and its sister papers, The Recorder of Greenfield and the Valley Advocate. You can reach him by email: jgood@gazettenet.com and follow him on Twitter: @jgoodstories.