From the Editor: The Chronicle Will Be Honest, Accurate And Invested in Lexington County

Posted 10/28/21

“We don’t go into journalism to be popular. It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.” These words — from the late, great Helen Thomas, …

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From the Editor: The Chronicle Will Be Honest, Accurate And Invested in Lexington County

Posted

“We don’t go into journalism to be popular. It is our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers.”

These words — from the late, great Helen Thomas, the first female member of the White House Correspondents’ Association — get at why good journalism is important.

And why community newspapers like The Lexington County Chronicle are such a precious but difficult thing.

It’s tough to maintain a rigorous standard of “trust but verify” when the politicians you’re writing about are folks in your backyard. When the residential developments you’re chasing updates on might one day house your friends and neighbors. When the businesses you write about through successes and failures are ones you come to admire.

But overcoming these challenges is where the power of community journalism comes from.

It’s possible to appraise a place with unbiased skepticism, not in spite of your love for it, but because of it. Because you want it to endure. Because you want it to get better. Because you care about your family and your friends and the place where you coexist.

This is where great community journalism comes from. 

From a trust between reader and reporter that they both want what is best for the community, whether the story is highlighting a positive or illuminating something uncomfortable. From an ability to speak truth to those in power, while maintaining strong working relationships with those leaders and government bodies, affording valuable access and perspective.

The Chronicle is under new ownership. This is my first issue as managing editor. We are dedicated to producing quality journalism, stories that dig into the issues and happenings impacting our community with purpose.

We’re not here to just be accurate scribes chronicling Lexington County’s history in real time, but to write about it in a way that shows that we’re invested in its future.

I live in West Columbia. This place is my home. And I want my home to thrive.

We’re here to help it do that. Keep me posted on how you think we’re doing. 
 

letter from the editor, new lexington chronicle owners, jordan lawrence, journalism values, local lexington news

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