Good afternoon. My name is Chuck Abraham and I'm a journalist in Northwest Indiana and I'm the former editor of The Lowell Tribune. I've been in media for over 30 years at this point but only the last 12 years as a print journalist.
Journalism, by and large, is not rocket surgery. You tell people what went on with a given issue, you give one side’s opinion, you give the other side’s opinion and then you keep your opinion out of it out of respect for your readers.
Unfortunately, what it's turned into is propaganda. The first time anyone - regardless of which side of the aisle on which their loyalties lie - says “let me put this into perspective for you,” or “we watched/read/listened this so you don't have to,” they immediately cease being journalists and become pundits, propagandists or, at best, PR people.
People need to make up their own mind about how they should feel about a new story. If I write something, and one person takes away something altogether different from it than somebody else does, I did my job.
In any case, I'm probably going to be starting with some local meetings and whatnot, but keep in mind that I'm probably not going to be able to get to everything. I'm one guy.
I'd also like to do some interviews with people in and around Lake County, Indiana. The thing that I have learned is that even in the smallest towns, people have stories. And those stories need to be told. I aim to do that. Sometimes the most compelling stories come from small towns and not big cities.
So as we go on this journey together, feel free to reach out to me and send me any story ideas that you may have. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.