An Apology To Community Of Sugar Grove, Smyth Co.

There’s a reason why daily newspapers historically have been called the “daily miracle.” That’s because producing a newspaper day in and day out on tight deadlines and with tight staffs is a difficult proposition. Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we just blow it.

An A1 article Saturday on water problems in the Sugar Grove community of Smyth County, Va., is a case in point. An extremely well-reported and well-crafted article about potential water contamination contained one unnecessary and irrelevant sentence about the community’s education and income demographics.

Those statistics had a place in a story about poverty, but not about water quality.

We profoundly apologize to the residents of Sugar Grove and Smyth County for a lapse in judgment. We also note that bottled water is available at Mountain View Food Mart in the heart of Sugar Grove and not just 10 miles away, as the story reported.

We pledge to continue reporting this story to ensure that Sugar Grove residents get clean water as soon as possible; we’ll also explore why it took the Rye Valley Water Authority nearly a year to inform residents of possible contamination.

Again, please accept our apologies. Daily journalism is a learning laboratory. This is yet another lesson in how we can do better.

– J. Todd Foster, managing editor