Be willing to ‘go on record’ so we can get the whole story

Senior Investigative Reporter, Shannon Taylor

Letter to the Editor by Senior Investigative Reporter Shannon Taylor

It has come to my attention that many people don’t understand how the Press gets news or how that news gets published.

Last week, I typed up an incident report of an arrest made in Weakley County. Shortly after it was published on the website, I started getting messages stating that I did not publish the entire story. It was brought to my attention that there was more to the story than the incident report detailed.

This is fairly common, however, in order to print something that people are claiming happened, we have to have eyewitness statements on the record. We cannot print something that can be labeled as “hearsay.”

I have had many people say that they know something happened and that they think the public should be made aware, and I agree, however, if no one is willing to go on the record then we cannot publish it.

If people want the public to know the “whole story” then, as a news reporter, I urge you all to come forward, on the record, and give statements to what you know so that I am able to further investigate and give all the details in the story, but don’t complain that the public doesn’t know the entire story or that the Press is leaving details out to “cover something up” when you are not willing to go on the record with any information you may have.

If you have any concerns about things in a news article that you think details were left out, please contact me at the Press office. The number is 731-587-3144. My personal cell number is 731-819-4497. My office email is reporterwcp@gmail.com and my personal email is smerrell1@murraystate.edu.

I look forward to hearing from you.