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March 26, 2004
Playing the PVT no-name blame game
While I told the receptionists to help screen calls, I usually answer almost every one they transfer to my phone, just to hear what's on someone's mind. Many items people think are important enough for a good story don't make it into the newspaper. Often it's because readers have a different sense of news value, seeing something close to them as far more important than what the average subscriber would consider worth reading. Others don't want to leave a name, for fear of embarrassment, but still want me to write the story anyway. Here's a sampling of some of the phone calls I received recently: One call that piqued my curiosity this past week was from a woman staying at Preferred RV Park, who claimed a fellow park resident was walking a dog that was bit by a sidewinder behind the Pahrump Nugget Casino. The dog had to be put down after the veterinarian didn't have any snakebite serum. The interesting part about it was the fact we may be lacking supplies of snakebite remedy in Pahrump Valley, which would affect us humans too, if we happen to get bitten. Unfortunately this woman didn't want to identify the RV park resident that had the dog, making the story impossible to write. Another woman called this week, curious about the zoning process and the open house held on zoning by Tri-Core Engineering, reported in the March 17 edition of the Pahrump Valley Times. Again, she said please don't print my name. This woman wanted to complain about a manufactured home installed on property down the street in her Calvada unit, along with a man operating an auto repair business out of his home, both of which were supposed to be banned under the Calvada covenants, conditions and restrictions. The same problem with anonymity arose a couple of weeks ago, when a caller from the Pahrump Senior Center wanted a story written about a distraught veteran who wandered into the senior center in bad medical shape, was eventually persuaded to go to a hospital emergency room in Las Vegas, where he was soon discharged and wandered the streets for two days. Eventually, he wound up at a drug treatment center in Las Vegas and was taken to the VA Hospital at Nellis Air Force Base. The VA discharged him and after another aimless night, eventually found the VA bus to Pahrump and arrived back in town with much of his money gone. The theme to the story was how people like the poor vet were falling through the cracks in the system; unfortunately the caller didn't want to give the guy's name so we could write a feature story about his plight. Some people call to vent their anger and leave their name, but they either don't make a strong argument for a story idea or their suggestion is of questionable news value. Robert Rustovich complained local developers were pirating his invention for a water machine. He claimed his invention could save the Town of Pahrump $17 million. Harvey Rakestraw called last week to say he was upset people were harassing him after a tenant on his property, bail bondsman Sammy Barzano, died recently. Lyle Allen, visiting from Arizona, the brother of Ralph Allen, 78, who died March 10 in Las Vegas, said his late brother, before he died, told him we would write a big article about him after his death. While I worked for the Pahrump Valley View I wrote about Ralph Allen's experience as a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II, when he was part of a group of POWs forced to walk for days to a POW camp. The Pahrump Valley Times also wrote about his ordeal. It was a good opportunity to inform the public about the fact that other POWs were forced into some long marches, not just the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines. We did run a short obituary Wednesday. Unfortunately the World War II veterans are at an advanced age and many won't be around much longer to tell their stories. Occasionally there's a phone call with a suggestion we can definitely sink our teeth into. Debbie Brooks called to say she would be breaking ground this week on her Skate Zone roller skating rink. While I like to write about major, planned developments as soon as they're announced, it was refreshing for a change to be able to cover a building project as they were actually starting construction, after all the busted deadlines of so many other pipe dreams fell by the wayside. While I'm usually busy enough trying to shine light on the Nye County Commissioners, who generally seem to be talking about something that's of importance to Pahrump residents, tracking big projects like the hospital and other duties, it's still important to try to listen to those callers. It sure would help if the callers might think first about what it would be like trying to write the story they're suggesting, particularly if they don't want any names used. A major question to ask: Will it really be of interest to everyone in Pahrump? (Write to Mark Waite at mwaite@pvtimes.com.) |
