My friends in the news business who do not live and work at the North Pole often tell me I am lucky.
And they are probably right about that.
What they are talking about is the fact that sometimes being a newsperson of any kind can be hard. People get mad at us a lot.
Since we get to report mostly good news here at the North Pole the assumption is that people hardly ever get upset with us.
Well, that’s not true. It happens all the time.
In fact, in the last month we have received some nasty-grams aplenty. Especially Elf Frank Myrrh. And a few for Elf Crash. And just this week, a bunch for Elf Trixie.
People write in and blame the newspeople for the news. Often, as is the recent case with Elf Frank, a flippant or humorous response gets taken way too seriously. But in the case this week of Elf Trixie, people have said she is lying, or was fooled by someone, or otherwise posting stuff that just can’t be true.
I feel a need to defend Elf Trixie a little bit. Not because I don’t think she can’t take it. No, that is not it at all. She’s a pro and she knows this comes with the territory. In fact, I’m not even sure if she is aware of the storm her story this week has stirred up.
No, Elf Trixie doesn’t need defending. But I’m going to defend her anyway.
She did her job right. She heard something, she asked questions, and she submitted a story. I read it and I called her to talk about it. I’m her editor. That’s my job. She answered all my questions just fine. I had no problem with her story being put out there.
Well, since Tuesday it has received a lot of attention. Elf Hugo at the North Pole Post Office said the mail started coming in within a few minutes of it being posted at SantaUpdate.com.
People are in disbelief. Some are really worried. Others are completely besides themselves. Many do not believe what Trixie wrote.
To all of this hubbub I only have one thing to say to those who are triggered by Trixie’s reporting in any way: can’t you read?
Trixie said there’s a problem with Santa’s sleigh but that she didn’t know exactly what it was. But then she explained that what she learned was based on a report submitted by a very capable test pilot and his report was so troubling the high command of test flights had a big old meeting.
That’s what she said in a nutshell. Now, why that would “trigger” anything is beyond me. Trixie said she didn’t know exactly what was wrong but she observed that something was wrong enough to get the elves she met in North Pole Flight Command talking. In other words, she broke the story that something is wrong with the sleigh and that she was on it – trying to figure out what it is and report on it again.
That’s coming. You can expect to hear from her in the next few days. She is keeping me updated and I’m telling you – as both an elf and her editor – she’s on to something here. It’s a thing. Believe her.
Now, I have some word of advice for you as a friend and as a fellow believer in Santa Claus:
Relax.
We’ve seen stories like this before that have come and gone. Sometimes they are a big deal and something they are nothing.
In a way, the response to this most recent scoop from Elf Trixie reminds me in a small way of the story about the Big Building of No Name, which was something that happened a few years back.
It was a huge story that resulted in a lot of mail. Most of it was just mail of concern and worry because all the news about that building seemed to break in the weeks before Christmas.
Elf Ernest was the reporter on that story and I can remember talking to him about it at the time. He was getting letters and notes from parents, teachers, doctors and others who were concerned that Elf Ernest was stressing kids out to the point that they didn’t think Santa was going to come that year.
Of course, he was doing nothing of the sort. He was just doing his job, which was reporting the news. He felt guilty about it. I had to tell him to pull up his big boy panties and continue to do his job. It was not his job to control the news, just to report it. Sometimes that makes you unpopular.
This story from Elf Trixie is a lot like that. And I’m asking you to please just let Elf Trixie do her job. If she gets something wrong, she’ll admit it. If some elf in North Pole Flight Command is leading her astray, she’ll admit it. If any detail that she reports gets proven wrong, she’ll say so.
In the meantime, just roll with it, okay? Let her work.
I would also remind you that it’s the first week of October. We’ve seen problems with Santa’s sleigh in the past a lot later than right now. Things always work out. Santa’s sitting on a museum full of sleighs and a whole sleigh barn full of different models of sleighs that he could select from to go around the world. There’s no way Santa is NOT coming this year.
Don’t think the worst when you read the news. Just let our reporters tell the story as it unfolds. Then you can decide if you choose to believe it.
Trust me, too. We are constantly working on how to report things correctly. I’m an old school news guy. I drill these elves on this stuff and we talk about the position we are put in by having to report the news. We find ourselves “stuck” a lot – having to report things we know will get a response.
Do we hold back?
Do we water down the news?
Do we buffer the truth? Do we embellish it?
No. Here at the North Pole we operate from standards. Who, what, when, where and why. That’s it.
Those answers, depending upon the story, will always vary. Sometime the answers will be uncomfortable or unwelcome.
That’s just the business of news.
