When I moved to Colorado in the mid-1980s, I attended CU in Boulder for a semester or two. Hoping to turn my love for reading and writing into a career, I took journalism and creative writing classes there. While I enjoyed those experiences, I eventually followed a long and at times torturous route to a career in technology instead. But ever since those days at CU, I’ve had an interest in the craft of journalism and the mechanics of delivering news to the public. 

So, I was stoked to see the ad for the “Truth Be Told” seminar that the Summit Daily News recently sponsored in Silverthorne. At this event, participants had the opportunity to meet local and regional journalists and view filmmaker Brian Malone’s film of the same name. The approximately hour-long movie is a deep dive into the challenges and considerations that Colorado journalists address everyday as they produce content for their audiences. The movie was comprised of vignettes featuring Marshall Zellinger (9News), Bazi Kanani (CPR), Jason Blevins (Colorado Sun), and other Colorado journalists, many of whose work I’ve followed through the years. It was also an opportunity to meet the event’s hosts, Summit Daily’s publisher Nicole Miller and editor Andrew Maciejewski. 

Attendees to the seminar were also given insight into the decision-making process that Nicole and Andrew must navigate every day in determining what articles and issues are addressed within its pages. It was insightful hearing Nicole’s perspective on how the paper is evolving and the thoughtful consideration that goes into weighing print versus digital formats.

The last part of the seminar was devoted to attendee roundtable discussions. The folks at my table were an interesting mix that included a local government employee experienced in public speaking and interfacing with the press and a veteran journalist experienced in producing content as well as managing a publication. It was great hearing their experiences and thoughts on the issues that local journalists and publications must consider daily in the course of their work. We also had an interesting discussion on the differences between opinion and news, the effects of social media on how we get our news and concerns for the division that the national news media often creates. 

A special shoutout to the Summit Daily News for hosting this event. This daily newspaper is a treasure for Summit County, whether or not you always agree with the stories they run or the opinions shared by columnists like me. I mean, on what other media platform can you find content in one place as diverse as local high school sports happenings, the latest movements on the Dillon town core or which resort is going to get a powder dump and open more terrain?

At a time when the objectivity of national newscasts and reporting is suspect due to corporate influences, it’s crucial to have news resources that are accountable to the public in the regions they report on. Unlike national reporters who may visit our area for a day to report on the big story of the hour and then jet off to somewhere else to chase tomorrow’s sensationalistic headline, local journalists are folks who you may repeatedly see at the local fast-food joint or grocery store. And it’s not in just those random personal encounters that local journalists must face feedback from their readers or viewers. They also hear it through the very platforms they work on — be that in letters to the editor sent to the Summit Daily about reported and/or overlooked community issues or in the comments Kyle Clark receives and reads on air during his 9News Next program. This accountability to their neighbors, in my opinion, helps foster honesty and uphold integrity in their craft. 

A friend of mine likes to call me a journalist because I contribute pieces to this newspaper, but I always correct him: I’m an opinion columnist, and there’s a significant difference between the two. “Truth Be Told” makes that difference clear. The film highlights the hard work, attention to detail and difficult decision-making behind every story we read in the Summit Daily News, the Colorado Sun and countless other local newspapers, or the pieces we see on local newscasts or listen to on Colorado Public Radio. The effort these folks put into delivering stories to our TVs, tablets, computers, and radios every day is something we, as consumers, too often take for granted and don’t give nearly enough credit or appreciation for.