Remembering George Lynch

The Bakersfield Californian was one of the leaders in embracing so-called "citizen journalism," in which everyday people are given space in our pages and websites.

The concept was a recognition that our readers often know more than we do, particularly when it comes to niche topics. As paid professionals, journalists certainly bring expertise to the equation, but we can't be experts at everything.

Inviting readers to the table makes so much sense. But the newspaper business can be an insular world, and early on in the experiment, fellow journalists would ask me at conferences in the U.S. and Europe, "Aren't you worried about bad writing or mistakes? Who's checking this stuff to make sure it's good? Do you really believe anyone reads this stuff?"

Valid questions, but you could ask the same of paid journalists, some of whom were churning out boring, thinly sourced stories written for narrow audiences, and refusing to come out from behind their lecturns and mingle with the masses.

George LynchSo, when asked questions like, "Is there really any citizen journalism that's good?" I often referred to stories submitted by local amateur historian George Lynch.

Lynch died Sunday of lung cancer, and The Californian marked his passed passing with a staff obituary today and columnist Herb Benham's celebration of Lynch's life and work in Sunday's paper, when his death was imminent.

Lynch embodied the best in journalism: he was humble, passionate about his interest (local history), thorough in providing details, and brought life to stories that resonated in big ways. You felt like you were sitting on a porch, listening to a respected elder share wisdom onto the next generations. He was not a trained writer but you would never know it, and The Californian published his stories regularly on section covers, including at least one at the top of A1.

Readers loved his stories and several fans even wrote the paper several years ago to ask "Where's George?" when Lynch was silent for an extended period. Those aren't questions many paid journalists receive these days.

Reader comments on the stories published the last two days reinforce that love, with one even requesting Lynch's columns be published in book form.

"He makes history so interesting, I read his columns aloud to my children," wrote a reader with the handle "mildmannered1". "He's such a gentleman, too."

Lynch was one of our first "citizen journalists" and his work helped overcome skeptics inside and outside our building. These days, reader submissions are a fixture in our products, with submissions that range from local politics and sports to pets and photography. Like any journalism, some of these submissions are good, some not as good. But giving readers respect and space in our products has added diversity and depth that's worth celebrating.

Our readers will remember Lynch as a great storyteller, but I'll also remember him as an unassuming trailblazer who helped make our products inclusive rather than exclusive.