I have repeatedly mentioned this in my posts:  I take calls weekly from viewers upset because they don't have easy access to a computer, let a lone the Internet.  They are upset because our newscasts direct them to our website for further information on the stories.  The calls are mostly from elderly folks, but increasingly the calls are from younger people.  Due to their economic situations, the computer or the Internet, was an expense they could no longer afford.

I try to give out all the information they need over the phone, but often we're just providing contact information for other organizations that also want people to use their websites.  I feel the desperation through the phone lines.  It's times like these I ask, what responsibility do we in the media have to be complete resources for the entire public when as a society we're so fractured?

It's also not just me taking these phone calls, but I missed a pretty important press release recently because it came via fax only.  The fax machine sits in the far corner of the assignment desk and receives only a handful of faxes each day.  There are several counties and government agencies throughout the state that still do not email the press information.  Everything comes by fax.  These areas are traditionally rural and mountain parts of the state.

The fax I missed came from a Front Range County that currently doesn't have a Public Information Officer.  The first release on the situation came via email, but the second came after 5pm and was faxed only.  It was published on the county website though.  I hadn't been checking the website because I'm so used to receiving press releases from that county instantly in my email.  Lesson learned.

(How do you like my first Vlog?  Is it really a Vlog since I also wrote with it?  Is it a Vlog/Blog? haha! =D  Being pregnant I have found myself exhausted and mushed brain.  Words, phrases, thoughts just disappear.  I've been meaning for quite a while to try to Vlog, thinking it would be easier for me to speak then to write.  That answer is yes and no.  It was quicker so I retained my thoughts easier, but words still disappeared.  I'm betting you can pick out the few times I had to struggle for the right word!)