When you are a newspaper editor, complaints are just part of the job. I have learned over the years to graciously and humbly admit when I make mistakes and try my best to make up for those mistakes whenever possible.

I suppose the most frustrating complaints are those which you can't do anything about. Often, that involves people who just have a difference of opinion, but sometimes it involves criticisms of bias.

In my five years at the Tribune, the one complaint I hear most often -- if not daily -- is our bias toward one particular town or another. When I first started working here, it bothered me deeply. I spent hours trying to make sure we had absolutely equal coverage, but it seemed the complaints never stopped. Over the years though, I've learned to laugh about it in a way. I quickly learned that it's one of those situations that can't be solved no matter what I do.

I've come to the conclusion that people are going to see things a certain way if that is what they are looking for. The very same day I get calls from people in different towns complaining about the exact same front page or sports page. One town will insist they have been slighted while the other city will say we need to play fair.

To prove my point, I did a little experiment. I posted a poll on the front page of our website asking readers what they felt about the equality of our coverage. What may some may find surprising is that 30% of those voting said they felt the paper had too much Lepanto news and not enough Marked Tree news. The exact same number of voters -- 30% - said they felt that paper had too much Marked Tree news and not enough Lepanto news. Just under 14% said the felt the paper gave equal coverage and another 14% said coverage was equal but they would like to see more school news. The remaining seven percent wanted more human interest stories.

So, one might ask, how can the same edition of a paper be equally biased toward both towns? I don't see how that would be possible.

Please don't misunderstand. I don't take the issue lightly. We strive to have a great product that all our towns can be proud of, including Tyronza who is always happy to get coverage. Some issues are going to naturally lean toward one town or another at times because of how events fall. For instance, last week's paper had more Marked Tree news because of the Wall and the Jubilee, and this week's edition has more Lepanto coverage because of the Terrapin Derby. But, overall, over an extended period, it all balances out.

Also, if you ever wonder why a certain event wasn't in our paper, there's a very large chance that we just didn't know about it. And, in the wonderful age of digital cameras, we are always glad to receive your pictures after an event to publish.

So, next time you think ill thoughts of your hometown paper's "bias," stop and glance again. The bias might not be in the paper, but elsewhere.