4-H honors reporter for in-depth coverage

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Independent reporter Jim Tiffin joined local 4-H youth in receiving recognition at last Friday’s annual Cibola County 4-H Awards Banquet.

Tiffin, who wrote the story about outstanding Cibola 4-H participants getting awards for club involvement, was in turn honored by the youth for his support and coverage of local 4-H events and members.

Patricia Strong, temporary coordinator for the Cibola County 4-H clubs, said the kids really appreciated the stories Tiffin has written about them and their activities, from the Annual Bi-County Fair to the recent Christmas tree sales effort, and wanted to show that appreciation.

She said that with Tiffin’s help, the club made $2,200 on piñon trees donated by the Bureau of Land Management.

The reporter wrote three stories about the tree project over the holiday season, making the public aware that the local youth organization was selling the trees, part of a forest clearing project on BLM land, for $10 a tree. He said he also wrote five or six stories for the Bi-County Fair this year.

“I always interviewed the kids. Before the fair, I wrote close-ups on kids,” he said. Tiffin highlighted 4-H members headed to the annual competition and the projects they hoped to enter.”

The 30-year veteran of journalism said he started covering 4-H at county fairs when he was an editor in Arizona and has been doing it for about 20 years. “County fairs are all about 4-H,” he said, adding that there are a lot of remarkable stories to be found in the youth and the fair competitions.

As a journalist, Tiffin said he learned there are a lot of good things in the organization and the kids deserve to be covered.

“(It) allows kids to work one on one with the animals everyday,” he said. Having to get up, feed an animal that depends on them for shelter and other necessities, go to school and come home and do it all over again lets the kids develop maturity and responsibility quickly, he added.

The organization also offers youth the opportunity to learn leadership — being a role model — though leadership conferences and holding their own meetings, handling money and developing. Tiffin said that one aspect of 4-H involvement that is very important is teaching basic values like family, a strong work ethic, and right from wrong.

Local media organizations like KDSK/KMIN radio and Cibola County Beacon received recognition at the banquet, the Independent reporter said. Tiffin’s certificate was a personal thanks from the Cibola County 4-H members.

“To be singled out ... I appreciate it,” he said. After a pause, he added, “It is an honor.”