Kevin Hensley
Several months ago, I scrambled to take down all the equipment used to livestream a meeting through our
Facebook page. The Graham County Board of Commissioners had entered a closed session, which meant it was time for yours truly to head to the lobby.
In the foyer of the community building was the head of a nonprofit agency who had been working in tandem with the county for a number of years. Things had not gone according to plan during open session, and a week prior to the meeting I requested more detailed financial numbers than had been provided to commissioners. After some friendly banter, the question was asked. "What do you need them (the numbers) for?"
"Because transparency is everything," I was quick to respond.
At the time, I truly felt publishing the numbers would aid their cause. After being assured I would get what I had asked for within the next week – well, let's just say one week turned into today, and that nonprofit no longer has a relationship with Graham County.
Roadblocks like these are not uncommon in my profession. More often than not, we are viewed as the enemy. When I became the new editor in town, it took years – understandably so – to build trust locally with officials. Today, I feel like I can pick up the phone, call any of them for information and get an answer. That wasn't always the case.
One of the reasons we have continued to livestream meetings on Facebook is transparency (there's that word again). Often, I find myself to be the only "public" person at a meeting. While recapping what occurred in our print edition is crucial to our readers, I also recognize that it’s difficult to fully capture the mood in the room and cover a meeting from start to finish.
Plus, it makes a great resource for going back when someone wants to stand up and say, "I didn't say that." The video doesn't lie.
It was in the spirit of transparency (I’m sensing a theme here) that I set up for all of five open-session minutes during a crucial joint meeting of the boards of commissioners and education last Monday. How much was what went down was actually caught on camera? Very little. You heard what I heard; you saw what I saw, but there were still a lot of questions on our Facebook page regarding the lack of discussion in open session.
Per N.C. General Statute 143-318.11, personnel and contract discussions are not allowed in open session. Voting on them is mandatory in open session, but neither side was close on a vote when the meeting adjourned.
This is why it pays to read your local newspaper. To tune into – or drop by – public meetings. County commissioners are fully aware that I have asked numerous times for status updates regarding the justice center to keep our readers informed of any progress. If I thought the board was kicking the can down the road, the narrative might be different – but I can see honest work being put forth to address a problem that I has been discussed in our archives as far back as the 1980s.
For anyone who thinks we’re not getting all the facts, who's to say? It's a leap of faith each time we print another edition. We go to press with the most factual information we have at that moment and hope we’ve been told the truth.
I treat people how they treat me and hope for the same in return. That's burned me a lot in life, but perhaps my journalistic integrity keeps me from knowingly printing a lie within these pages.
The Graham Star owes it to you to put the truth out there in as neutral a fashion as possible. Transparency is a key component in that formula. When social media lets you down with half-truths and downright lies, your hometown newspaper is your dependable information source.
"The pen is mightier than the sword."
Kevin Hensley is the publisher/editor of The Graham Star. He can be reached via phone, 828-479-3383; email, editor@grahamstar.com; or on X, @KevinHensleyCNI.