Finding the right formula for sharing information

As journalists, we are committed above all else to the open exchange of information. We spend a great deal of time working within our community to ensure that Freedom of Information laws are respected and that town and state officials let the taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent, and how changes to laws will impact their lives.

As a community newspaper, The Lakeville Journal is committed to letting everyone in the community have a voice — even when that voice is at odds with views held by the paper or when those views are critical of the work we do.

But there are also times when we, as community journalists, feel a responsibility to help people tone down their messages or “edit� themselves before they say something in an interview, a letter or an e-mail that might be libelous or damaging to someone else, or even might be incriminating or have negative repercussions for himself or herself.

A recent example: Cornwall resident Ralph Dzenutis gave several newspaper interviews last month in the aftermath of an after-prom party held at his home that ended with the arrival of the state police, the arrest of Dzenutis and three young people taken to the emergency room at Sharon Hospital because they drank too much.

In the Dzenutis interviews, and in many online comments made by young people on newspaper blogs and other Internet “bulletin boards,� many tidbits of information were shared that could hurt Dzenutis’ case should the lawyers choose to use them in court.

Another case in point is a series of e-mails that have been sent to this newspaper by a group of commenters in reference to the Sharon education budget negotiations. If those e-mails were made public, they would likely have the opposite effect of what the writers intend. It is sometimes difficult to have perspective on a situation when one is in the middle of it. One concern raised in these e-mails is that the public doesn’t fully understand how the teacher contracts work.

This is probably accurate, and in large part due to the fact that when the Board of Education and the teachers’ union negotiate, the press and public are not allowed to sit in. In addition, the representatives of those groups are extremely parsimonious with details after the negotiations are over. However, it is during those contract negotiations that teachers and boards should be eager to share information with the public — not much later, in the middle of a contentious budget season.

Leadership requires many skills. One of those skills is being able to fully and confidently disclose all the details of what a group or committee or commission or board is doing, at the appropriate time. When those details are not shared at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner, it opens the door for information to be released in a way that allows things to be blown out of proportion, misused or negatively interpreted, to the detriment of the process and all involved in it.

Like all civil liberties, freedom of speech and freedom of information are rights that come with responsibilities. Communication is a powerful tool that should be used with the precision of a surgeon’s knife, not swung around blindly in a wide arc as a cudgel.

 

Latest News

Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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