A rebirth in Mid-Michigan Community Journalism

This is the start of a new venture in my home of Genesee County, Mich. My name is Nick Rappley. I was born and raised in and around Flint. I graduated from Mt. Morris High School, attended Mott Community College and Central Michigan University where I  graduated with a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and journalism.

I began my career here in Mid-Michigan working as a news cameraman, then later, a producer and assignment editor for WLNS TV6 in Lansing in addition to  WEYI TV 25 upon finishing college. Early in my career during in the late 1990s, I moved to Central California, where I worked for four newspapers—including two dailies—and two California State legislators spanning the following two decades. In that time, I learned the news business and political communications process inside and out. I, however; never confused the two. Politicians are giving and pushing a point of view, obviously. In journalism, it is supposed to be the opposite.

  It seems as though many, from small town community journalism all the way to the highest levels of national,  cable network, and internet news organizations of every type, have lost sight of the pledge put forth by the Society of Professional Journalists. Some may not know this pledge even exists. It contains the basic tenets on how to operate as a professional and ethical journalist. True journalists hold these rules as sacred as the Hippocratic Oath taken by medical doctors. They are the basis for a free society:

• Seek truth and report it: Ethical journalism should be accurate and fair. Journalists should be honest and courageous in gathering, reporting, and interpreting information.
• Minimize harm: Ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues, and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.
• Act independently: The highest and primary obligation of ethical journalism is to serve the public.
• Be accountable and transparent: Ethical journalism means taking responsibility for one’s work and explaining one’s decisions to the public.

Most news organizations, digital and those in the now, archaic newspaper business have sadly lost most, if not all these goals and newsroom rules. Any news organization that wishes to be taken seriously by the public needs to start and end their business with these rules. Anything less is not journalism in a free society.

Newspapers were exposed by the Internet for overcharging for their ad revenue. As news organizations shifted to “clicks” rather than subscription or circulation, the focus on facts shifted to sensationalism. As this happened, editors and reporters moved away from the facts. Between the Internet exposing papers for overcharging advertisers over the course of a generation and moving toward sensationalism, this country, state, county, and their local entities lost their best sources for local information. This led to a host of problems, not the least of which is accountability of public servants to the citizenry. 

I left the newspaper business in 2014 because at that time there were not any real opportunities in local journalism and I had no interest in working for digital entities uninterested in reporting the truth first and who always had an agenda. I was devastated and thought my career was over. Through a series of events, it has become clear I was mistaken. I am delighted to now be founding this new initiative, especially in the area where I grew up. 

One of the first rules I learned in journalism is to simply to check my politics at the door when acting in a journalistic position. Our job at the Sentinel will always be to provide you—the reader and local decision makers with the facts to the best of our ability. 

A culture of non-bias will be nurtured in this organization. Make no mistake, humans are involved, therefore mistakes will be made from time to time. But purposeful bias will not be part of our work. My pledge to my hometown and county will be to provide unbiased information to the best of the news organization’s ability according to the rules set for by the Society of Professional Journalists. If we do not have the truth, then we all will be exploited. The Sentinel will always be on guard for the facts and truth. Period.

For more information on the Society of Professional Journalists and their ethics code visit the Society of Professional Journalists website.

Nick Rappley is the founder, publisher, and editor of the newest Mid-Michigan electronic news media organization, The Genesee County Sentinel. He is a career broadcast and print journalist with over 25 years of experience in television, radio, and print. He can be reached at gcsentinel@outlook.com.