Welcome to the Montgomery County Gazette, your place for real, unbiased news pertaining to topics throughout Montgomery County. As some of you may know, this is the long-awaited expansion of the East Montgomery County Gazette, which I, Jessica Shorten, have operated for the past two years.
It has been an exciting journey growing this news site thus far, and I am even more excited to finally take this next big step into the growth of this paper. Montgomery County is an incredibly fantastic area, and is growing exponentially every year, and because of this, there is never a dull moment.
Montgomery County is full of news; and I have made it my duty to report as much of it as possible, and doing so using the three words which have guided my growth to this point. I call my motto “The Three I’s”
Integrity, Independent, Informative.
INTEGRITY:
“The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.”
From the beginning, my main goal has been to ensure myself and my writing shows the highest level of integrity. In each article published on the Montgomery County Gazette, all facts presented have been double and triple checked, and often have links to evidence and documentation proving the points made.
Unfortunately, mistakes can slip through on occasion, but we work expediently to fix them the moment they are identified. A correction will always be issued in the event there is unintentionally incorrect information spread, and the proper information will be distributed.
Integrity is a without a doubt a tall order to fulfill, especially for a newspaper. Luckily, the core attribute to integrity is my second “I.”
INDEPENDENT:
“Free from outside control; not depending on another's authority.”
Independence may be the second “I,” but it is equally important and critical to Integrity; without independence, one cannot truly have Integrity.
The Montgomery County Gazette exercises Independence in the fact we do not take sides on issues, we merely present the facts. Aside from the occasional Editorial, which are properly labeled as such, opinions are kept far away from the keyboard and the publishing table.
In today’s world, one would be hard-pressed to find a news agency which does not put some kind of spin on their articles, be it political, emotional, or satirical; but luckily the MC Gazette refrains from such biases.
The goals of a newspaper is not to persuade, but to inform; which leads us into the third and final “I.”
INFORMATIVE:
“Providing useful or interesting information.”
A newspaper cannot claim to be a news source if it is not informative in one fashion or another. Montgomery County is an ever-growing and changing place, with news occurring almost every minute across the county. While one might not be able to cover all of it in a day, it is a newspaper’s duty to ensure the information is readily available to the citizens.
Be it a wreck, a severe weather event, a city council meeting, or a school football game; information is information, and the public deserves to have it as it occurs. Just as stated earlier, a newspaper’s job is to inform, not persuade.
CONCLUSION
The Montgomery County Gazette is something I have been working toward for two years now. There has been issues, as with any project, but it has all been worth it. While I have grown substantially since this paper’s inception, there is still much work to be done. I look forward to having you join me on this journey.
Thank You,
Jessica Shorten
Montgomery County Gazette
