Calling All Citizen Journalists!

As I continue on the journey of revamping this newspaper, I am preparing for the next phase to begin. But, to do it, I will need your help.

You see, I am a one man show when it comes to news coverage. Luckily, I don't have to worry about Sports because our own Gwen Honrud has that covered nicely.

For much else, I am similar to the Eye of Sauron. For you all that don't know, The Eye of Sauron sat atop Barad-dur in Mordor in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

The eye, when focused on something, didn't miss much.

But, the eye couldn't gaze everywhere at the same time, allowing Frodo and Sam to slip the One Ring into the vile lands without notice.

(Yup, that was some nerd stuff right there. I read Tolkien in Geometry class in high school instead of paying attention. It worked out, though, because now I write for a living.)

For the past few months, I have been working on Glasgow proper, with a few articles from the rest of Valley County and beyond. But with my camera and recorder, I cannot be everywhere. My "gaze" can only be on one place at any given time.

It has long been my intention to provide news coverage for other Valley County Communities such as Hinsdale and Nashua, but I will need community journalists to help cover events and happenings I may miss. Yes, I need you to be my Frodo Baggins.

We already have a few citizen journalists who provide us with columns and news. A big shout out to you guys. I appreciate your work.

For newcomers, it doesn't matter if you are a noob at writing and photography. Send me whatever you've got and I will see if we can find a home for it in The Courier.

I am hoping someday to have a metaphorical army of citizen journalists who see all kinds of cool stuff when they are out and about, and are willing to share it with the public.

If it is a cool photo, that is great. I hope to launch a page down the road filled with reader submitted photos.

With your help, we can grow this scrappy newspaper into a truly county-wide community news source.

If you are interested, please submit photos or entries via email to [email protected] or turn them in at person during regular hours at The Courier, 531 2nd Ave. S., in Glasgow.

For more information, give me a call at 406-228-9301.

As always, news tips are much appreciated as well.

OK, back to the grind.