Kirk Seminoff: Community engagement means meaningful discussions

We need to talk more.

Not about the weather, or Billy’s baseball season wrapping up.

We need to talk about us.

As The Eagle’s new community engagement editor, it’s my job to facilitate the discussion. The job is an expanded role of the Opinion Page editor, reaching out into the community to get people talking about our highlights, and how to make more of them.

Because let’s face it, we’re quick to avoid the important conversations.

How many times have you scrolled your Facebook feed to find someone’s political comment that irked you to the point of raising your blood pressure? You may have unfollowed or even unfriended the poster.

Or worse yet, you replied with even greater fire from the opposite side – satisfying but empty – when a rational response might have begun a true discussion of the issue.

Rational, reasoned discussion is becoming a lost art. Let’s try to change that.

I come to this role from a lifetime in The Eagle’s Sports Department, including the last 17 years as sports editor. You learn early as a sportswriter to play it down the middle and not take a side. KU fans watch for how many K-State stories are in the paper. K-State fans think we’re partial toward KU. (Sportswriters are only partial to fast games.)

It’s a fairness philosophy that I bring with me in the 50-foot move across the newsroom. My hope is you’ll see that in a good balance of views daily on our Opinion pages in The Eagle and on Kansas.com.

The added role of community engagement is where you come in.

Soon we’ll begin Facebook Live videos, where I’ll interview newsmakers and other important folks in the community. The aim is to not only find out more about the roles they play in Wichita’s success, but get their thoughts on what makes our city special to them. You’ll be able to ask questions in real time. Keep ‘em clean and keep ‘em coming.

We’ll also try to have some fun with a video series tentatively titled “Uniquely Wichita.” We’ll periodically bring two Wichitans together to debate (sometimes playfully) the most important issues in our city:

East side vs. West side.

Joyland: Historic Wonderland of Childhood Magic or Overrated Kiddie Park Bloated by Gen X’er Memories.

Has the sale of the Warren Theaters snuffed out Wichitans’ well-deserved comfort level with movie-going?

I’ll put out calls for “Uniquely Wichita” participants through social media and at Kansas.com. Join in and have some fun talking Wichita.

All this can’t happen without you. The people who contribute Letters to the Editor and speak their minds on our Opinion Line already have started the conversation – mostly for the better, sometimes for the worse, often for the funny.

But I want to hear from you. Tweet me, write me, call me. Check in with our Facebook Live videos. Tell me who you’d like to see in our newsmaker series. Suggest things happening in Wichita that a wide audience should know about.

If you’ve lived here for any length of time, you know how good we have it. There are no oceans, no mountains, and only one or two quality sledding hills. But there are kind, caring people. A safe city. Little traffic. A terrific place to raise a family. City pride on the upswing.

We’re going to spotlight all the good going on. Just as importantly, we’re going to have discussions on what we can do to make our city even better. As good as we have it, there are plenty of things that can be done to make it shine that much more.

Thanks already to the readers who have congratulated me and wished me luck on the new endeavor. I look forward to hearing from you more. I have big shoes to fill, as Phillip Brownlee ably steered the Opinion pages for 16 years before leaving the newspaper business.

So let’s get to work and get talking.

This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Kirk Seminoff: Community engagement means meaningful discussions."