By Richard Girard
EAGLE TIMES PUBLISHER
On June 24th, this paper published an editorial regarding the obnoxious conduct of Bert Spaulding, Sr. at several meetings of the Newport Board of Selectmen. It was entitled “Enough is Enough.” Unfortunately, that editorial errantly ran again on July 18. What was supposed to run was an editorial regarding the upcoming search for a town manager in Newport. As the subject of that editorial has now passed, what would have been published is no longer relevant and won’t be published.
It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but we’re really not sure what went wrong as Tuesday’s paper was being put together. With a key member of our staff off-line due to illness, another traveling across country to join us and two others working remotely, we’ve been stretched pretty thin. We just may be trying to do too much, especially as weather and floods have beset our area.
This isn’t an excuse, so much as it is an explanation. Whatever our challenges, we need to ensure we get it right. We didn’t on this one. Therefore, we apologize both to our readership and to Mr. Spaulding.
Since the beginning of this year, the Eagle Times has worked very hard to respond to the community. We’ve revamped our content, brought in experienced staff, hired specialty writers, enlisted community journalists, solicited community input and much more, all with the mission of restoring a functioning and vital community media outlet that’s focused on the people, places and things in the Twin State Valley.
Along the way, we’ve shared our desire to change, while soliciting your input because we know some of the things we’re going to try will work better than others and because we know we’ll make mistakes along the way. We believe that when mistakes are made, so to must amends, which is why we’re issuing this apology.
While we stand by the editorial that was mistakenly republished, Mr. Spaulding is not a target of this newspaper. A second publishing of an editorial critical of his behavior might lead one to conclude otherwise and we regret that. Given that he is an active member of the community, we expect his positions and actions will continue to draw our attention. If his bombast continues, we won’t be shy about calling it out. However, we also won’t hesitate to sing his praises should his positions or conduct be praiseworthy.
As an example, we applaud his decision to remove his name from consideration for the town manager search committee. Given the acrimony between him and the former manager and the board, we believe it was the right thing to do and we commend him. We hope it is a sign that he will let the other capable people who’ve volunteered do the work they’ve been chosen to do.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.