Let me ask you a serious question. Where do you get your news and information? How do you stay up-to-date on what is happening across the world, nation, Nebraska… Callaway? In this age of AI-generated photos and content, that is a very legitimate question. We all need to be very aware of where the information we are receiving and passing on is coming from.

This past weekend, I attended the Nebraska Press Convention, where I spent three solid days in meetings and workshops designed to help us journalists sharpen our skills and become better equipped at what we do - keeping the public informed. I have shared in my column many times that this is a task I take very seriously!

I do have a confession. I spend WAY more time perusing Facebook than I should. While I do use it often to check name spellings and look for potential story ideas, I have also learned how easy it is for me to get sucked into just mindlessly scrolling and looking at nonsense. Because of my training through NPA, I have become fairly good at recognizing real v fake news, but that is getting more and more difficult all the time. That is why knowing and trusting your source for information is crucial!

Some of the fake things I see on social media are almost laughable. From stories about famous people to political rhetoric to breaking news, I honestly believe very little, if anything, I read on those sites anymore. Sources matter. Local matters.

We are privileged in our neck of the woods to have some very reliable, long-standing sources for local information. Obviously, the Callaway Courier is one of those, but we also have the Custer County Chief with more than 130 years under its belt, and KCNI/KBBN radio, which has been providing news and information to central Nebraska for more than 75 years. These, my friends, are sources you can trust.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret - you don’t get rich working in media. If you are looking for a career path that will lead you to a large bank account and healthy retirement plan, local media is probably not the right choice for you.

But if you are looking for a way to make a difference in your community, to share all of the positive things happening in our neighborhoods and schools, and keep people informed on what is happening with their local boards and councils, this is the perfect career. Facebook fact-checking has become a joke - but I guarantee that we at the local news level perform our due diligence on everything we report. Do we still get things wrong sometimes, make mistakes? Of course we do! We are human! But we will never ever intentionally mislead our audience or sensationalize a story just to get your attention.

We are also always open to ideas for stories you want to read! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me to share your thoughts - even if it’s something you think I may not want to hear. This is YOUR paper.

And that’s the truth.

Contact me at: ellen@syndicatepub.com