A great civics lesson

For the past six months, the Tri-Parish Times has been a living civics lesson.

We’ve operated alongside, but separate from, our owner’s political campaign for Louisiana’s Senate District 21 seat.

As readers know from our own coverage, Bret Allain won the race by fewer than 800 votes in what was a hard-fought race to the very end.

It’s business as usual here at the Tri-Parish Times. We’re committed to delivering fair, balanced and accurate reporting of news that affects Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes. That said, we welcome senator-elect Allain and look forward to working with him in the coming years as he strives to improve District 21 and Louisiana.

But we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the unique, if not unusual spot our newsroom found itself in over the duration of the campaign.

Many people asked if the Tri-Parish Times newsroom really operated independently of the campaign. I can completely assure you it did. As a candidate, our owner/publisher Darrin Guidry completely relinquished control of the reigns, trusting me and his wife Pam with all the day-to-day decisions. Without that trust, our jobs would have been made difficult, especially given the promise we made to readers to provide unbiased coverage of the elections and other news.

Although we shared office space with the Guidry campaign, which often meant a high volume of campaign-related foot traffic in and out of the building, newspaper operations continued without a hitch.

The last six months have been a learning experience. I gained a better understanding of the daily challenges that face my boss in juggling various aspects of the newspaper, battling printing costs, late mail deliveries, new web development and tracking staff issues. Our news staff honed their sense of fairness and accuracy in reporting. And Darrin emerged as a true difference maker.

Just over six months ago, I sat in the Guidry’s loft at their home as they outlined plans to seek public office … to move from a reporter to a doer. It was a heady goal that, if realized, would have created a new set of challenges for our newsroom.

Saturday’s vote left Darrin just shy of office, but he wasn’t a loser by any means. His campaign, straightforward and honest to the end, reflects his commitment to our community, his values, family and the newspaper.

It’s been an incredible civics lesson, indeed, to be on the cusp of a state Senate race. We saw leaders rise to the occasion, and voters come out in record numbers. What an exciting time to be in newspaper. We look forward to what lies ahead.