Public relies on reporters to share actions being take by elected officials.
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Board meetings can be boring.
There, I said it.
I suppose that is not shocking to most people, but for a reporter to say it is something completely different. Community newspapers have for generations covered local board meetings like flies covering a garbage can at a picnic.
Often times meetings can be mundane, but it’s worth it for the public when we can report on important happenings and decisions.
In 1992, I covered a meeting where a college president was screamed at and disciplined by his own board, and the professors censured him. That meeting lasted for hours. I dozed in the hallway during a closed session.
I was at the meeting when a county board member announced she changed her party registration, which changed the balance of power on the board. Of course that was in Arizona, where the County Board had a grand total of five members, even though the county was huge.
Brad Jennings is the editor of the Ogle County Life.