Opinion: My home is not barren wasteland. Shamefully misleading photos missed beauty.

An article recently appeared in the Columbus Dispatch, the New Philadelphia Times Reporter and other publications that discussed a report from the Ohio Department of Development regarding declining population rates in Harrison County and Southeast Ohio.

I have read the report and share the Dispatch's concern about Ohio's declining population.

To that end, I have tried to spend my time in the legislature making Southeast Ohio a better place to live and work. I have worked on projects such as expanding internet accessibility, decreasing food shortages, improving water quality and creating new opportunities for economic development.

One thing I know for sure is that the photographs that appeared in these publications are far from an accurate representation of Harrison County.

If you make the trip eastward, you'll find that Tappan, Piedmont and Clendening Lakes are gorgeous places to take a trip or spend the day on the water. Our schools have state-of-the-art facilities, and we have thriving businesses. Land value in Harrison County continues to rise. The people work hard, care for each other and will give you the shirt off their back.

However, if you just looked at the pictures in the article entitled “Postcards from Harrison County,” you would think Harrison County is a desolate run-down place.

This is shoddy journalism at best. I do not believe the photojournalist spent more than a few hours in Harrison County. They never contacted me.

They did not discuss or include any pictures of our wonderful parks, our schools, our businesses or our beautiful natural environment.

With that being said, the content of the article was not bad.

Declining population is a problem, and that problem will require more solutions. Bringing light to these problems, and motivating stakeholders to act, is the very foundation of journalism.

But selecting “postcards” that attempt to paint a picture of my home as a barren wasteland of rusted-out vehicles and broken-down homes is not accurate, not fair and not at all helpful in finding a solution.

Particularly when an article appears the next day highlighting another Appalachian county’s fair, with an entire set of pictures that depicted it as a much better place than Harrison County.

This county is also facing population losses. It is far more effective to highlight one of the best events a county does each year than to waste time and resources to paint Harrison County as one of the worst counties in the state.

I have included some pictures of my own with this guest column.

These pictures highlight some of the good things going on in Harrison County.