Often, the folks here at the Columbia Basin Herald refer to getting the paper put together and out the door as a “daily miracle.” Every day, stories fall through for different reasons, plans have to be adjusted, and unexpected events come along to throw a wrench in the proverbial works.

There are two groups of people outside of our organization who help us make that miracle happen by providing us with the information we need to complete stories or start a story in the first place. Public information officers and those who offer news tips.

Public information officers — or community engagement specialists, media representatives or any of a number of other fancy titles that mean public information officer — are godsends to a journalist. Folks like Kyle Foreman at the Grant County Sheriff’s Office; Susan Scheib at Columbia Basin Hospital; Sarah Morford and Ryan Shannon at the Ephrata and Moses Lake school districts, respectively; Gretchen Youngren at Samaritan Hospital; Cpt. Jeff Sursely at the Moses Lake Police Department; Matt Killebrew and his team at Big Bend Community College; or, folks like Cpt. Troy Froewiss who landed in the role because he was in charge of the shooting incident in Ephrata this past Sunday.

A bit of a side note, while I’m there: Froewiss was a consummate professional Sunday and helped me get information out to the public while helping me make sure the family of the victim was respected and taken care of. I never want to put information out that harms a family, and the Columbia Basin Herald team hopes the family feels loved and supported during this time of grief. Thank you Cpt. Froewiss for your professionalism and dedication to service.

There are dozens of PIOs in our area that we depend on, and I’d publish a full list if we had space. Just know that whether you’re in the paragraph above or not, we truly appreciate you and all you do to help us keep the community apprised of the news they need.

There are a lot of different mindsets about how to be a PIO. We’re fortunate enough at the paper to work with a group of them who feel the public should be well informed and not have to decipher a bunch of spin. We ask for the good and the bad and they provide it. In the few instances where we get spin, it’s generally from private company PIOs rather than government agencies, and we fact-check those obvious bits of public promotion and provide context.

The other group we have to be grateful for is the readers and other community members who provide us with news tips. The ones who call, message or email us with information about something happening in the community.

A community member called me to let me know about the shooting this past weekend. Other stories that have been the result of news tips have included several centenarian stories we’ve done the last few months, people letting us know about business openings and folks who let us know about layoffs in Moses Lake last month.

From my perspective, the stories that resulted from those tips aren’t about drama and stirring the pot. For me, every news story is about safety, educated voting and building community. The shooting story is about letting people know to avoid the area while first responders work. The story about the layoffs was about letting people know it had happened so they could support their friends and family and those laid off could connect with resources to help them find new employment.

A newspaper is supposed to connect the community with resources and information while bringing people together to solve problems as a group.

Because a reader provided a tip on the layoffs, we were able to speak with WorkSource and other resources to share job information with newly-unemployed workers. The hope is that some of those workers have new jobs now because of those stories.

When you call — 509-765-4561 — or email in a news tip — [email protected] — that’s what you’re helping us do: connect people with the things they need to thrive. Please know that your tips are appreciated and we’ll do everything we can to provide solutions to problems, not just go for drama and clicks on our website. It’s about building community and serving the Columbia Basin.

Thank you to the PIOs and folks who provide news tips. Know that you are appreciated and that we take our responsibility seriously when we handle the information you’ve entrusted us with.

Take care of each other out there.

Sincerely,

R. Hans “Rob” Miller

Managing Editor

Columbia Basin Herald

Basin Business Journal