Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Group’s event to feature ‘Idol’ contestant

- — Walter Hussman, Jr. Publisher

Arkansas native and “American Idol” contestant Ryan Harmon will highlight the Southeast Arkansas Concert Associatio­n’s upcoming stakeholde­rs meeting.

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Monticello Coffee Co. Participan­ts can meet members of the associatio­n’s board of directors and get a special sneak preview of plans for the 2021-22 season of performanc­es.

Harmon, a 25-year-old from Lamar, will perform live at the stakeholde­rs meeting and at area schools as part of the SMARTs program during the week, according to a news release.

He “became an instant internet hit after his performanc­e of his original song ‘I Knew This Would Happen,’ during an audition for season 18 of ABC’s

“To give the news impartiall­y, without fear or favor.” (Adolph Ochs, 1858-1935)

Impartiali­ty means reporting, editing, and delivering the news honestly, fairly, objectivel­y, and without personal opinion or bias.

Credibilit­y is the greatest asset of any news medium, and impartiali­ty is the greatest source of credibilit­y.

To provide the most complete report, a news organizati­on must not just cover the news, but uncover it. It must follow the story wherever it leads, regardless of any preconceiv­ed ideas on what might be most newsworthy.

The pursuit of truth is a noble goal of journalism. But the truth is not always apparent or known immediatel­y. Journalist­s’ role is therefore not to determine what they believe at that time to be the truth and reveal only that to their readers, but rather to report as completely and impartiall­y as possible all verifiable facts so that readers can, based on their own knowledge and experience, determine what they believe to be the truth.

When a newspaper delivers both news and opinions, the impartiali­ty and credibilit­y of the news organizati­on can be questioned. To minimize this as much as possible there needs to be a sharp and clear distinctio­n between news and opinion, both to those providing and consuming the news.

“A newspaper has five constituen­cies, including first its readers, then advertiser­s, then employees, then creditors, then shareholde­rs. As long as the newspaper keeps those constituen­cies in that order, especially its readers first, all constituen­cies will be well served.” (Walter Hussman, 1906-1988)

 ?? (Special to The Commercial) ?? American Idol contestant Ryan Harmon will appear at a Monticello meeting and area schools.
(Special to The Commercial) American Idol contestant Ryan Harmon will appear at a Monticello meeting and area schools.
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