The LuLac Edition #4. 895, January 18th, 2023

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our “Write On Wednesday” logo.

This week we give you a letter sent to the Times Leader about the retirement of one of their star and veteran reporters. Jerry Lynott has been a fair and dogged reporter. He made an impact in the local news scene and he will be missed.In my personal and professional dealing with Jerry, one thing stuck with me. If you were straight with him from the get go, he would be fair. His dogged determination for the truth and his interesting way of phrasing will be missed. 

THANK YOU, JERRY LYNOTT. YOU WILL BE MISSED

This is a belated thank-you letter to former Times Leader reporter Jerry Lynott for his decades-long service to residents of the Greater Wyoming Valley community.

During Jerry’s career in print (and then online) journalism, he was a tireless newsroom workhorse, traveling in pursuit of stories from Wilkes-Barre City Hall on Market Street to Luzerne County’s most rural municipalities – and far beyond. He notably filed articles from the Mideast while on assignment in Kuwait with the Pennsylvania National Guard 109th Field Artillery’s Alpha and Bravo batteries during the Iraq War.

He frequently covered crime, courts and the region’s seemingly endless string of corrupt “public servants.” He consistently delivered factual, fair and clear articles without regard to who might take offense or be embarrassed by the truth. He posed tough questions on behalf of the public to our area’s elected officials, business bigwigs and other power brokers, as well as their sometimes vast network of apologists and coattail riders.

Jerry pulled the latest information from police and prosecutors; he calmly and compassionately spoke with rescue personnel and eyewitnesses on the scenes of tragic incidents. And he interviewed innumerable everyday people in our communities, people whose perspectives deserved – and in many cases, needed – to be heard.

As with all “local journalists,” Jerry also wrote more than his share of weather-related articles, election night results, festival and parade recaps, and light-hearted pieces. He captured the heart and humor of our communities in Northeast Pennsylvania, and he did so with diligence and devotion to his craft.

To the pleasure of coworkers, Jerry often lightened the mood in the newsroom with wisecracks and ridiculous observations. He nurtured younger reporters who were learning the nuances and harsh realities of the police beat.

Our society has not yet found a viable replacement for all those vanished traditional media outlets with their vast ranks of trained, savvy, community-based journalists. (Social media is, so far, a poor and sometimes dangerous substitute.)

Until an adequate solution can be found, the departure of newsroom pros like Jerry Lynott – as with the shuttering of each local newspaper – is a loss with rippling ramifications for our communities, our nation and our democracy.

Your talents will be missed, Jerry. Best wishes for success and happiness in your future pursuits.

M.E. Jones 

Kingston, Pa.