Kansas paper does its job

      Scott Loftis

Any decent newspaper is going to make some folks angry. It comes with the territory.

Apparently, the Marion County Record is a pretty good newspaper. The paper, based in Marion, Kan., managed to irritate the local police chief enough that he decided to raid the Record’s office and the home of its 98-year-old co-owner, who died one day later.

The raids were based on Marion police chief Gideon Cody’s allegations that a reporter for the Record had broken the law to obtain information about a local restaurant owner’s driving record. The Record says the reporter used information provided by a source to obtain the driving records through a public website.

The real reason behind the raids, however, might be the Record’s inquiries into why Cody left his job with the Kansas City Police Department — and its $115,000 annual salary — to take a job paying half as much in Marion.

That, of course, is what newspapers do. It’s what editors and reporters do. We see something that doesn’t make sense at face value and we ask questions.

Why do we do that? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we do it because the people have a right to know what their government is doing. Keeping the public informed and keeping an eye on local government is a responsibility and an obligation for the Marion County Record, the Carroll County News and any other legitimate newspaper.

We’re fortunate here. Most local officials understand the importance of having a local newspaper. They understand the role we play and allow us to operate with mutual respect.

I say “most” local officials. There are some who clearly wish we’d stop asking pesky questions and insisting that public business be done in public view. That’s too bad, and it’s also a pipe dream. We are going to do our job, regardless of the consequences.

The Marion police seized computers, personal cell phones and a router from the Record office. The Record’s response was to publish its next issue anyway, with the Page 1 headline “Seized … but not silenced.”

My sincere hope is that Cody is soon unemployed. As for the Record, it has vowed to continue its mission — with more than 1,000 new subscribers, including at least one right here in Berryville.

“No government ought to be without censors, and where the press is free, no one ever will.” — Thomas Jefferson.

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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com.