INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL

The article of Dec. 18 leads "County holds tax in check. Commissioners pass an 'austere' budget that will leave the property tax rate at 3.416 mills for 2009."

WATCHDOG: News articles are expected to give voice to all sides.

We can understand the incomplete New Era report because it was posted within half an hour of the end of the meeting to meet the deadline for the afternoon edition.

But the article by P. J. Reilly the morning afterwards in the Intell was devoid of public comments concerning the budget, which suggests that either it was a re-write of the New Era article (in which case, why the 'by-line'?), the reporter didn't attend or wasn't paying attention, or an editor deleted parts of the report.

We relative amateurs at NewsLanc should not be providing better reports than the pros. But it seems we usually are.