Home > Inside the Newsroom > Archives > 2006 > September > 14 > Entry
It’s all in the stacks of papers
The mounds of papers at the courthouse are filled with the daily dealings of our neighbors here in Pitt County: who sold or bought what property, who’s building a home or adding on, who’s been sued, and so on.
I never realized how much interest there is in the public record until I began the business beat, which includes the weekly Workweek section, about 15 months ago. A day doesn’t go by, it seems, that someone doesn’t say that’s a must read in the paper.
My colleague, Stuart Savage, normally has the daily task of collecting the deeds, permits and lawsuits. He’s out this week due to surgery, so I’ve spent a couple of days wading through documents and folders.
Most of it’s fairly routine, but you do get a picture of the activity in our community. Some of it’s quite disturbing, especially the stack of lawsuits. The Daily Reflector doesn’t print lawsuits involving domestic violence, divorces or separations, or child custody/support and paternity, but they easily make up the majority of suits on record.
In sifting through the many papers, an occasional one can be inadvertently omitted. That happened a few months back in a motor vehicle negligence case, and a caller suggested we left it out intentionally or had an agenda siding with the defendant’s lawyer.
It was a simple oversight that was easily corrected by checking the date and publishing the information the next week.
On the flip side, a lawyer friend of mine relayed recently that one defendant accused him of getting the paper to print a lawsuit in an effort to embarrass him.
We have no agenda when it come to the public record, other than to accurately report it so readers better know their community. It’s all right there in the stacks of papers.
Comments
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By WK5
September 19, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
Yes, isn’t it nice that the Daily Reflector acts as an open window with no blinds nor hardship for people that are essentially Peeping Toms?
Before, the public where that interested and/or in need of such information for valid business practices had to trot themselves down to the courthouse.
Now you just encourage all to hop on that newly pressed ignorance of respect no one’s privacy and make being a busybody easy. Aren’t citizens proud they are this much in need of digging/snooping as an entertaining past time? I think on this level its really rather sad and somewhat psychotic to be that nosy.
Gee - thanks DR. You’re like the community’s biggest gossip center with the kitchen table and burning ears and wagging tongues.
Good people used to look down on such. People should be ashamed to read the listings “just for fun”.