I posted the resignation of executive director Tara Jones from the Chester YWCA on October 2. Earlier today a gentleman asked me what I thought about the Tara Jones situation. We both surprised each other when I told him that she resigned and he told me to read this week’s Chester Spirit paper.
It looks like the Chester Spirit is going to make a series out of what dirt they can find on the YW and their leaders. Personally, I’ve already read enough from their first article.
If the Chester Spirit is truly ‘Our Newspaper’, many of us are looking for you to bring us an alternative to the bad news. Sure, Chester is a messy town with a lot of messy stuff going on and it doesn’t take much effort to find mess if you look for mess. We don’t even mind if you report on the mess you uncover. But please don’t pile up the mess.
One story is plenty. We get the hint.
You won’t resolve whatever went wrong at the YW with your paper. Let the YW folks take care of what’s left for THEM to take care of.
Many of us would prefer that the Chester Spirit use your resources to bring us the positive stories you promised us at your kickoff luncheon at the Wharf at Rivertown over 3 years ago.
We don’t like when you throw our home town folks under the bus and that is what your series would accomplish.
Chester Spirit, either find some positive stories for your front page or move on to the next bad news story. You did your thing on the YW, now move on.
Thank you Stefan I could not agree more. Chester Spirit BACK OFF. Go report about cancer month, sports, recreation, seniors, soccer, the phillies, the State Rep Race. Please understand thisI was at your Kickoff lucheon also POSITIVE NEWS is what you wanted to report.
ReplyDeleteWell said! If you are NOT part of the SOLUTION then you are part of the PROBLEM. I would like to encourage the Chester Spirit to become part of the solution. If the Chester Spirit believes that there are negatives involved with the YW I'm sure the folks working on the Board and in the YW would appreciate any genuine assistance offered to create a positive resource for the Chester Community. "Be the change you wish to see in the world"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why they didn't mention the fact that the place was about to close when she decided to take over. Take note to Jack Holefelder's response- 5 to 7 years ago they decided not to fund the YW anymore. She wasn't even there then! I know her personally, and she sacrificed a lot for that place... Chester this can't go down like this....
ReplyDeleteSounds messy!I was listening to some big time gossip about this yesterday. Sorry can't repeat it.
ReplyDeleteHaving been a follower of the Chester Spirit over the past few months I am having a hard time digesting these opinions. It would seem that you anonymous bloggers don't even read the paper on a regular basis. The Spirit reports on events of interest in the community. I would think, that as citizens of that community, you might want to know where your tax dollars are going. Furthermore, this recent story is not an example of muck tossing. The Spirit reports on many activities that are uplifting within the community, just actually read their prior installments, there are a myriad of stories that cover "...sports, recreation, seniors, soccer..." and so much more. However, something that really is abominable and should be addressed is how there are some people that want to turn a deaf ear to real news as it is happening! This is an issue of city wide interest not a personal attack! People should be thanking The Spirit for bringing this to light in a city that has been described so eloquently as "a messy town with a lot of messy stuff going on in it". Why not try to clean up that mess or at least shed some light on it? America was built on checks and balances was it not? Why neuter the watchdogs that are our great journalists? Why perpetuate the mess any further by sweeping it under the rug. Are we so reluctant to believe even hometown "heroes" don't need to be kept in check if they are not going through the proper financial avenues that other organizations must go through. In closing, it is not The Chester Spirit's job to fix the problems of the YWCA, it is to report that these problems exist. Whatever mess the YWCA is in, the YWCA itself is solely accountable for. For a paper that does so much for the community, I don't understand why people would choose ignorance over a chance to correct issues that are being brought out of the muck by the journalists who have to sift through it while everyone else is indifferent? You would think that this type of outrage would have been targeted towards a paper like The Daily Times. A paper whose headlines lead if they bleed and only perpetuate that Chester is still in decline. I see things differently, The Spirit is good for Chester. Let the reporters of The Chester Spirit continue to do the job they have always done, report the news and then let the people decide for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the reader who advocates checke and balances. It is not the responsibility of the Chester Spirit fix the problems of the YWCA or any organization. They did their job in reporting the problem and they did a fair job of reporting it. There was no mud slinging and it was kept very fair. It is now up to the YWCA to stop making BS excuses and get themselves together. I believe that Ms Jones and her many boards have had plenty of time to at least start to correct the problems that plague that organization but instead have chosen to blame others and make excuses and to therefore land the YWCA in worst shape then ever. As for the C-City blogger you should take some time to learn from the reporters at the Spirit maybe if you had the smarts or balls to report the news (good and bad) like they do your "paper" would still be around. Is it me or do almost all of your posts sound like they are written by the same person?
ReplyDelete...and let the people decide for themselves. That's what's going on here. A number of people have decided that they didn't like the Spirit's YWCA article. I don't think anyone said they didn't like the paper. As the only Un-Anonymous responder, I stand by my statement that we don't need a series of reports on the troubles at the YW. That one story told ME enough. I wish the article was more balanced especially now that the YW's board has implied in their response that some facts are disputable. I wish they would have identified a few of them.
ReplyDeleteAs the guy who gave Chester a community paper 2 years before the Spirit came to town, I learned that Chester folks enjoy positive news but respond to negative news. Sprinkling in some bad news story here and there keeps the readers engaged. But there is no need to commit to keep coming back with the same story each issue as it seems the Spirit wants to do with the YW.
And, I don't think tax payer money goes to the YW. But I do wonder why the United Way still has the Chester YW as a entity I can pledge my contribution to if they have cut them off from funding.
Very observant Other Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between the Chester Spotlight and Chester Spirit was money.
My Chester Spotlight didn't come to town with a truck load of money, a kickoff with all the big politicians giving their support, a group of committed corporate advertisers or a staff of trained journalist.
it was just little ole me doing a community service out of my home, on my pc, with my camera, putting out a paper once a month with the money I earned from the mom and pop businesses who supported it, not caring if people liked it or not. Enough people liked it for me to keep it going for 4 years.
The Spirit didn't take any of my advertisers so the paper could have continued forever. We didn't compete for readers since most people can read more than one paper.
But does Chester need two small community papers? I don't think so. They have the resources to do it better, come out more often, give you color...why not step aside and let them do their thing.
The blog is my thing thanks the the Daily Times. It's a lot easier and reaches people around the world. Over 80% of the readers are not from Chester.
Let the trained journalist keep The Spirit paper going. I'll stick to this.
I like the blog much better than the Spotlight or the Spirit because it is interactive. You can respond to it. With most of the newspapers dying in this country, honestly, I don't think you need to worry about the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteYeah blogs are great you don't even have to be reputable to have one or to post on them! Heck, you don't even have to put the news in it either which makes them soooo much better than those dying newspapers who even reads the news anyway?! I just follow twitted.
ReplyDeleteYou must be a sarcastic asshole from The Spirit! At least, we know how to interpret the shit you wrote. Honestly!!!
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ReplyDeleteWho is the YOU that you are referring to from the last comment?
ReplyDeleteI can honestly imagine the response. If you are responding to this blog, you read the blog. Oh don't be a shamed. It is a guilty pleasure of mine too. Shhhhhh...we won't tell anyone. I would read the newspapers but they are so darn boring. With technology, at least, we can ease up on cutting trees down.
ReplyDeleteI love responding to the blogs. Some are so much fun. LOL...LMAO! Hope you are too. Lighten up!
Reporting on the fiscal irresponsibility of agencies entrusted with the care of a community would not be a negative story. Too much of this has haunted the citizens of Chester and have handicapped much of its future. Living like an ostrich or hiding dirty laundry in a closet overflowing with junk does not serve anyone well.
ReplyDeleteAlbeit, I'm sure this young lady believes she gave her all or whatever energies she had. Effective administrative leaders of 501c3 organizations realize that the integrity with which they serve their constituents by safeguarding its resources and reputation, supercedes that of the ego of leadership.
This story was brought to my attention outside of the state and city that is Chester and it was a heartbreaking one. I so tire of hearing the same messiness given to us by "so-called leaders" and those wishing to bury what should be exposed publicly to right a sinking ship.
What sane donors will give money to an organization that does not have it's financial business in order? And major donors require AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS as a normal part of the donor selection process. And they will not be contributing money to an organization that cannot prove its abillity to manage its finances. Again, this is heartbreaking and should not be continued unscrutinezed. That paper is doing its job whether we like it or not.
You refer to the 10 posting by anonymous on October 13, 2010 at 9:20 PM. The posting took on a sarcastic tone in response to my posting about dying newspapers vs. blogs. The fact is newspapers are dying in this country that's why most are now online, a wise move since most of us now get our source through some form of technology. Honestly, if I want to read the newspaper not just blogs, I read it online.
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