There will always be something
going on in the community that annoys someone. And there will always be a
handful of people whose first course of action is placing a phone call
to the local media, such as the Canarsie Courier, about a longunresolved
issue.
Without acknowledging who is actually responsible for the problem,
and without researching the city and state agencies who can generate a
possible solution, some residents think we can swoop to the rescue and
pursue their story as if we are miracle workers. However,
information-savvy residents took proper measures before contacting us.
They’ve called local politicians, city housing or building authorities,
and attended civic meetings to congregate with others who share the same
grievances.
Those
who believe we are a print version of 3-1-1 think their problems will
be solved by telling our staff, “You have to do something about these
deplorable conditions!”
As much as we enjoy being a soapbox for our community, as many
newspapers are, we cannot literally, physically DO anything. It would
help us greatly if residents knew what type of issue they were dealing
with and if they understood how to facilitate valuable public
information that is readily available.
I received a call a couple of weeks ago from a resident who couldn’t
believe there were rats plaguing Canarsie Pier and lights that weren't
working. He ordered me to take a trip down there and “tell someone to
fix everything.”
First, he admitted that he’s never been to a community meeting where
Gateway Recreational Area officials made a presentation on repairs at
the pier, and, second, he didn't know Gateway is the Federal agency
responsible for upkeep at the site. He also seemed tongue-tied when I
asked him if he was aware that we've been publishing articles on the
pier as often as information is available to the public.
It disappointed me that he had no idea WHO operated the site he was
complaining about – it bothered me more that he hasn’t been reading our
newspaper!
The same way reporters have a listing of government agencies and
politicians they can contact, residents can be active citizens and also
call these entities.
In other instances, when I interviewed angry residents living in some
terrible conditions within New York City Housing Authority buildings,
for example, many already did their homework. They called city
maintenance, had physical records of ticket numbers and they reached out
to tenant's associations. Their last step, after getting nowhere, was
calling us.
It's easier to help expose a persistently unresolved issue when an
active community member has already fought the system through their own
investigative measures. Stories are also better when residents
demonstrate they are responsible citizens.
The best way for us to help you is to first help yourself.
Become familiar with who your representatives are, be aware of who
fosters the most change and how to get in touch with them. I completely
agree that if you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to
fish and he will eat for life.
No comments:
Post a Comment