Scott Underwood: Your story ideas are integral to our news operation

Scott Underwood, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·3 min read

Feb. 20—We're always looking for ideas for important and interesting stories to tell, and photos and videos to shoot.

We generate some of our own ideas through our awareness of what's going on in the Madison County area and through official actions and sources in government offices, schools, businesses and non-profit organizations.

Other story ideas come from trends, issues, politics and governmental decisions at the state and national levels. And some ideas are sparked by content that's been produced by other media on topics germane to our local communities.

Another important, irreplaceable source of story ideas is ... you.

I'd estimate that we receive easily a dozen ideas from readers weekly, some simply sending us information for a brief, others suggesting deep investigative dives. Most reader story ideas fall someplace in between.

Readers often suggest profiles of interesting people in the community. They sometimes call our attention to neighborhood problems, such as crime or sluggish drainage. And some readers love to send us historical context relating to holidays or current events.

You can send your story ideas to me, or you can pitch them directly to another journalist in our newsroom. He have two relatively new additions to our news operation:

—Chief Photographer Richard Sitler is familiar to many our readers. The Knightstown native was a THB staff photographer from 2007 to 2009 before leaving to travel the globe to research and shoot photos for his book about Peace Corps volunteers.

An experienced newspaper photographer, Richard most recently worked for the Journal-Gazette in Fort Wayne. We hired him after the retirement of longtime Anderson newspapers photographer and photo editor John Cleary in September.

You can contact him directly at richard.sitler@heraldbulletin.com or (765) 640-4875.

—Reporter Caleb Amick joined our staff in August after working for newspapers in North and South Dakota. In a sense, it was a Hoosier homecoming for Caleb, who grew up in Scottsburg and studied at Taylor University.

Caleb covers a variety of beats for The Herald Bulletin, including health, entertainment, arts and the communities of Alexandria, Chesterfield, Markleville and Daleville.

If you have story ideas related to any of these beats, you may contact him at caleb.amick@heraldbulletin.com or (765) 648-4254.

Rich and Caleb's efforts supplement the work of our THB newsroom veterans. Here's a brief look at their areas of responsibility:

—News Editor Jim Meyer coordinates our news coverage and manages many of our special publications. You may send suggestions for news articles to him at jim.meyer@heraldbulletin.com or call him at (765) 648-4230.

—Senior Reporter Ken de la Bastide covers Anderson and Madison County government; police, courts and fire, and the communities of Lapel, Frankton and Elwood. Ken can be reached at ken.delabastide@heraldbulletin.com and (765) 640-4863.

—Reporter Andy Knight covers business, environment, higher education, Anderson schools and the communities of Pendleton, Ingalls and Summitville. You can contact him at andy.knight@heraldbulletin.com or (765) 640-4809.

—For story ideas related to sports coverage contact Sports Editor George Bremer at george.bremer@heraldbulletin.com or (765) 640-4831, or reach out to Sports Reporter Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or (765) 640-4886.

Not every reader idea results in a published story, but many do, and some of the others eventually lead to related articles.

Thank you, readers, for engaging with our staff and playing active roles in helping us cover the Madison County area.

Editor Scott Underwood's column is published Mondays in The Herald Bulletin. Contact him at scott.underwood@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4845.