September 19, 2024
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Setting the record straight about our reporting

Excavators clean debris from Carus Chemical Company nearly one month after the fire on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. The fire began on Jan. 11, 2023 and escalated to a fourth Mutual Aid Box Alarm System and brought in more than a dozen fire departments and emergency responders, in addition to the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard and HAZMAT teams.

Excavators clean debris from Carus Chemical Company nearly one month after the fire on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. The fire began on Jan. 11, 2023 and escalated to a fourth Mutual Aid Box Alarm System and brought in more than a dozen fire departments and emergency responders, in addition to the Environmental Protection Agency, Coast Guard and HAZMAT teams. (sanderson@shawmedia.com)

During the public comment portion of a La Salle City Council meeting on April 3, some attendees made unsupported claims asserting our coverage has been unfair and slanted toward the owners of a company that experienced a chemical fire on Jan. 11 in La Salle.

A speaker claimed one of our reporters was told by Carus Corp., owner of Carus Chemical, what our stories should say, and other speakers insinuated Carus Corp. holds influence over our reporting because we pay rent to the company.

Those claims could not be more wrong.

Shaw Media, owner of the NewsTribune and The Times, rents office space from a company (CL Real Estate Group LLC), which is under the umbrella of Carus Corp. Our local media operations share the Ottawa newspaper office with Tangled Roots Brewing Co., another company owned by Carus Corp.

There is nothing unusual about the arrangement. Shaw Media leases offices from landlords in Crystal Lake, Joliet, DeKalb, St. Charles, Downers Grove and Newton, Iowa. And we have hundreds of business and advertising relationships with companies throughout Northern Illinois and Iowa.

None of these businesses should ever expect, or would ever receive, special treatment in our reporting.

As a news organization, our most valuable asset is our credibility. To suggest we would sacrifice that credibility for something as insignificant as an office lease is as illogical as it is insulting.

Our allegiance is to our communities and our readers. We will continue to report on this story in a fair and comprehensive manner. The NewsTribune and The Times are committed to finding the truth in whatever we are reporting, including January’s chemical fire.