There are few feelings as great as coming up with an ambitious idea, pursuing it and seeing it through with a successful result.
Today’s opinion page is the epitome of that feeling. Over the summer, when I attended the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) annual convention, my main reason for going was to accept a column-writing award, but there was a secondary agenda.
ISWNE has a two-hour roundtable session dubbed “editorial critiques,” where six or seven newspaper editors gather around a table and swap newspapers, giving one another both positive feedback and critiques where papers may have room for improvement. While we do look at the whole paper, most of the time is spent on the editorial pages — I’ll get to why later.
This was my first time participating in this exercise, and I was not entirely sure what to expect. I was put in a group with papers from Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Prince Edward Island in Canada.
Having seen these papers’ editorial pages beforehand, I had a general idea of how our stacked up.
It stacked up well. Newspaper-wise, they loved the clean design and big photos, and our coverage in the three consecutive March editions was all-encompassing and community focused.
My column, they said, was strongly written each week, and Bob Mitchell’s column was an enjoyable perspective on the page. But, outside of those, what else did the page offer to locals?
When I sat back and looked at it, there was nothing of southwest Missouri consequence there.
I typically ran Dave Ramsey’s finance advice column, which I’ll admit at times I scanned for information relative to me. Most of the time, it was just filler. I moved to running state issue columns on the opinion page, but I’m tired of relying on the editorial opinions of the Kansas City Star or St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Faced with how anti-local the page was when we pride ourselves on being a community first newspaper, I had an idea.
What if I reached out to the leaders of Cassville in different industries and professions, from schools to banking to history to health to community engagement?
What if I could use this page to give the community a voice?
Today, I’m proud to publish the first of seven guest columnists that will replace those big city editorials and general finance questions.
The first submission comes from a man many see around Cassville volunteering with civic clubs and helping build momentum, Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce Board President Chad Johnson.
In so many different roles in the community, Johnson’s insight into how they tie in together and work with one another is refreshing.
He mentions the Cassville Rotary Rodeo, which is now on firm standing thanks to the FFA partnership. We’ve written previously in our pages about the struggles the Rotary Club has had keeping it alive, and we’re glad to see these things moving in such a positive direction.
In coming weeks, this page will feature columns from Chad Johnson, president of the Cassville Area Chamber of Commerce Board; Merlyn Johnson, Cassville school district superintendent; Dr. Lisa Roark, owner of Roark Family Health and Medical Spa and The Dispensary; Sarah Smith, director of Crowder College Cassville Campus; Jon Horner, president of Security Bank of Southwest Missouri; Jeremiah Buntin, historian at the Barry County Museum; and the Democrat’s own Jordan Troutman, a four-year reporter with the paper — and also my wife.
This idea was birthed in that ISWNE editorial critique on the campus of the University of Kentucky, and it’s the entire reason these critiques are staged.
The Society focuses on making its members’ editorial pages the historical idea exchange they were always meant to be. A forum that predates social media, that informs and entertains, that lets locals hear their neighbors’ thoughts and concerns, hear of their joys and despairs.
I imagine our contributors will largely be upbeat, and I can’t wait to see the next set of guest columns. Even I only skim the state editorials, but when I was editing Jay’s and Donna’s pieces, I was enthralled.
I hope you will be, too.
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014. In 2017, he was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers, and in 2022, he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cherryroad.com.
