Messenger page designer Keri Pritchard-Willerton's view of inauguration

For those interested in how newspapers across the country, and the world, covered yesterday’s presidential inauguration, click here. (Edit: I’ve fixed the link.)

We had a bit of a challenge deciding how we were going to cover the election as well. Photographer Joe Duty captured a great image of a local family celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well as Barack Obama’s inauguration, and we had some photos from Messenger page designer Keri Pritchard-Willerton who was in attendance in Washington, D.C. The difficult part was trying to figure out what we would have by the time we sent the paper to the press. Since Tuesday is our production day, the front page is often designed early so we can begin building the rest of the paper. With the actual swearing in not taking place until noon (11 a.m. central), coupled with cell phone problems I discussed in a previous post, we weren’t sure what we were going to have. Plus, Messenger reporter Mandy Bourgeois covered a live videoconference between Decatur High School and other schools from around the country and the world about the inauguration. Because of the historical nature of the event, and the numerous inauguration-related content we had to work with, we decided to package the photos and story as the dominant element on the page. We did publish two other local stories at the bottom of the front page.

Hopefully we made the right decision, but we always want to hear what you think.

As reporters, one of the first things we learn is how to handle the emotions of a fatal wreck. Just like police and rescue workers, you have to develop a mindset to handle what you see and hear at these scenes. This mindset can often be viewed by some as “callousness,” and maybe it is in a way. I can tell you for sure that despite what many people think about the media, no one “enjoys” covering these events.

The challenge becomes even greater when the fatal wreck involves a child or teenager, as the one this morning did. A Decatur High School sophomore was killed less than a mile away from school. We broke the news in Update this morning, then followed up with more later that morning. We do not publish the names of victims until the next of kin is notified. And in this morning’s case, when we learned the name from officers after the family was notified, we waited just a little longer in order for the school to have time to let students know.

It’s always a delicate situation, and reporting information of this nature is a huge responsibility that we do not take lightly. We decided to go ahead and publish a brief story on our Web site so readers would know as much information as we know - especially since our next printed edition of the newspaper won’t hit newsstands until Saturday. Our sports editor even found a photo of Chelsea we published on the cover of All Around Wise last September. Our job is to keep the public informed, and often breaking news on the Web is the best way to do that.

As many of our readers have already commented at the end of our story, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and classmates during this difficult time. This is indeed some of the hardest reporting journalists have to make, but we will do our best.

Photo from Gizmodo blog

Messenger page designer and intrepid journalist Keri Pritchard-Willerton is on the ground in Washington, D.C., today sending us photos and blogging about her experience of attending the presidential inauguration tomorrow. Wise County resident and Washington, D.C., regular visitor D.A. Sharpe has been in town almost a week and is also providing his perspective on the festivities. Tonight, D.A. will be attending the Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball.

We are hoping that Keri will be able to use Twitter to report live from the scene of the inauguration tomorrow. We’re crossing our fingers after reading this report that says it may be hard to get a signal tomorrow. That is something we worried about when planning the blog. We are obviously in uncharted territory like everyone else. Hopefully we will at least be able to get Keri’s Twitter reports even if we can’t get photos through.

But hopefully everything will work smoothly. Yes. We. Can.

On a local note, Decatur High School is one of only a handful of schools, and I believe the only one in the state, who will be participating in an interactive session related to the inauguration tomorrow. Look for that story in an upcoming Messenger issue.

Sorry for the little absence away from the blog for the past month. It wasn’t due to a lack of things to talk about around here. I’ve got a lot of things to cover, but first things first.

Our front page story last week was one that we knew would one day come, but still is hard to comprehend. Roy and Jeannine Eaton have sold the paper and are retiring. We all held our collective breaths when they announced the news to us last week, but we were able to breathe a sigh of relief when they told us that they had sold the business to Phil and Lesa Major. Phil has been a part of the Messenger family in the past, serving as sports editor and then editor from 1981 to 1991.

I use the word “family” because that is truly what it is like here at the Mess. And the Eatons have been the head of that family. Their commitment to quality community journalism, and their employees, is second to none. I have no doubt that the Majors will continue this fine “family tradition” at the Messenger, and you can expect the same high level of community journalism you’ve come to expect.

After sending out a breaking news e-mail last week, I received a response from one reader wanting to know what would happen to his digital subscription after the change in ownership. The answer is, he’ll still keep receiving his digital subscription.

I know readers may have questions, comments or even suggestions for our new owners. Feel free to post comments or e-mail me at news@wcmessenger.com and we’ll try to get them answered the best we can. Or, if you have comments for our newly-retired former owners the Eatons, you can send those in as well.