News reports lack balance

RECENT news reports in our dailies lack the edge that beams professionalism.
I am referring to the development of our rural districts in the country.
In every electorate there is the chain of command from the district’s chief executive officers to programme managers, local level government (LLG) managers, and the politically-elected LLG presidents, MPs, ward members and village recorders.
The news is cheap especially when for instance reporters come across a broken bridge, take a picture of that bridge, and ask the nearest villager for his or her opinion and reiterate everything and writes the story.
The story goes to print without consulting the respective authorities responsible for comment on the issue.
Such news reports then portray the leaders and the responsible government authorities as being incompetent.
I am not protecting those in authority and I am not a writer myself, but it is just that good journalism should explore all aspects of the would-be news article.
The history of the subject plays an important role in a story.
The government’s position on the issue also plays an important role.
To expect districts to have machineries stationed at every corner of the district is like flying to the moon and back.
There was an article about the bad roads between Sialum and Finschaffen and the story revolved around that spot hence painting a pretty bad picture of those in power.
If the story is understood in a cynical way, it would give an impression the story is aimed at tarnishing the reputation of those in authority.
You can see that earth-moving companies were engaged and are vigorously uprooting trees, cutting down mountains, smashing through rocks, and crossing rivers from Wasu towards Sialum and then from Lae to Finschaffen to Sialum.
The respective MPs are working around the clock to address the issue.
That part of the story is a work in progress and is available.
Yes, leaders are open to public scrutiny, hence to be fair, stories should be widely-researched, cooked well, and made sweet for consumption.
Our MPs deserve our respect too.

Kapi Lok
Wasu/Kabwum