Ad hoc reporting is good... and bad

We have a new reporter in the area.
I watched some social media posts this week from a local woman named Hannah Baker, who did her own interview with a Lee County Supervisor regarding the “data center” that she said is coming to Fort Madison.
I’m a huge proponent of debate and conversation, especially that which moves people to action. And the Constitution itself provides for the dissemination of the news. The first amendment allows for no efforts to curb freedoms of the press.
We’ve been seeing streams on social media for years with people showing us how to make the best crock pot dinners, or the best waffles, and now we’re starting to see people who do their own news reporting.
I think it’s great. I don’t believe Mrs. Baker used the name of her source for some reason. I didn’t really get that as supervisors, as we all know, are public figures. It’s my understanding she met with Garry Seyb at the county offices. Seyb said Baker was informed, asked good questions, and presented herself professionally.
It’s not a stretch to say that journalists with revenues and a company on the line might be a little concerned with the average citizen producing news content on Facebook or Instagram, X, or what have you.
I’m not concerned with the effort, but I do have some suggestions.
The content was great. We absolutely need more conversations around the project going up on Highway 2 on the east side of Fort Madison. We need more information on whether construction on the facility has actually started, or if earth is just being reshaped. The county has a moratorium in place on any new data center projects, but it was the intention of supervisors that that project wouldn’t be impacted because it had already begun.
We need more information on why the city isn’t discussing an ordinance allowed by Iowa Code that would give them zoning jurisdiction within two miles of city limits by expanding the Planning & Zoning Board and Board of Adjustment by two members. This is Iowa Code 414.23.  It's on for discussion at Tuesday's Planning & Zoning meeting.
We’ve said in several articles that property owner Dustin Wolgemuth has a right to develop that property as he sees fit as long as it fits within legal parameters of the construction. And with no county zoning in place and it being outside city limits, as things stand, he can run with it.
However, we’ve also said neighbors have a right to know what he’s building there and how it may impact their quality of life. Wolgemuth has spoken publicly about the project one time and that was at a supervisors meeting. He used a solar powered data center as an example of what is already popping up in Iowa, but didn’t specifically say what he’s doing with the property.
So no one ‘knows’ for sure what he and his investors are doing on the hillside, but certainly something is coming and it sure appears to the senses to be some type of data processing system.
Historically, news producers rely on confirmation of information before going to press. We’ve stretched that about as far as we’re comfortable with at this point on this story. So when we see others  putting up streams of what they believe, and could very well be accurate, news, we have to provide some encouragement. We also feel obligated to provide some guidance to give them some viability in their reporting.
No. 1 – Cite your sources. Tell us who you talked to and how you were able to confirm your information. Other than that, it’s a rumor mill and has to be consumed that way.
No. 2 – Give your sources equal time in the content. There were some assumptions and insinuations there. I’m not at all saying organized news outlets don’t have insinuation or assumption, but it’s something we try to avoid by getting confirmed information.
No. 3 – Use care not to erode trust in the system. Local news organizations struggle day to day to keep readership as the globe continues to separate along party lines. Local news is one place where you can learn about your local schools, sports, businesses, and even  the city’s first female firefighter. Where else are you going to get that?
No. 4 – Be consistent. Hitting and retreating isn’t a good way to establish regular readership or viewership. Let’s have something every day.
Mrs. Baker would probably be the first to say she isn’t a news outlet, rather someone who just wanted to get some important information out there about the project. And it is important. We were intrigued by her post. I think most of her information we’ve included in our past articles, but the intrigue comes from what this looks like for the future. Mrs. Baker seemed informed and asked pertinent questions but where’s the viability of that information if it isn’t attached to the public official who provided it?
The real value here is that this particular topic is meeting with some resistance from the community and there is some energy around doing something to possibly get legal opinions. Wolgemuth told supervisors that project will have $100 million in it before all is said and done. That’s a big project that will absolutely have an impact on the surrounding area and the city, in general.
The more conversation we can get around it, the better we can all understand what is, and is not, going on – But that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.