By Gary Spurgeon
Publisher

A comment added to the story on our online front page about the closing of American Welding and Tank wonders why we reported a few weeks ago that the plant and others in Bloomfield did not have employees laid off.

The commenter says there were people laid off at the time.

We reported there were no layoffs because that was the answer we received in telephone interviews with plant managers or high company officials.

We had no other way of knowing whether or not there were layoffs, voluntary or otherwise. When we ask questions of news sources, we expect them to tell the truth. We understand that news sources often put things in the best light, but when we ask a direct question such as “Do you have any layoffs?”, we expect a truthful “yes” or “no” answer.

In the case of American Welding and Tank, we posed that question to plant manager Jerry Batterson. As normal with AWT, Batterson said he could not answer and said he would find someone who would provide us with an answer. Batterson called back a few minutes later with the information we published.

If there were readers who knew this information was not accurate, we would have very much appreciated them telling us so either by a simple telephone call, email or in a letter to the editor. No one has suggested, until now, that any of the information we published at that time was either inaccurate or misleading.

When we gather information for stories, we ask about information we have heard or discovered elsewhere and ask that any inconsistencies and seemingly inaccurate information be explained or clarified. That would have been the case with the story in question.

Had we been told by a reader after the original story was published that the information was inaccurate or some pertinent information was missing, we would have followed up and asked why we were given inaccurate or inconsistent information in the first place.

We very much appreciate readers providing us with information or news tips. We check out nearly all tips  we receive from readers. In most situations we keep their names confidential while we ask questions. While business layoffs would not normally be such a case, there are many times when publication needs to be backed by public records or other official documents. All media are legally responsible for everything they publish.

Our only mission is to provide timely, useful and accurate news and information for our subscriber-readers. We are not a public relations organ for anyone or any institution. We promptly correct errors as soon as we discover them. We very much appreciate being told when we err or when we are given the wrong information.

Please continue to help us serve you by feeding us news and information and immediately pointing out when things seem to be wrong.