Last week, this newspaper reported awful news, a school bus wreck with multiple injuries — a parent’s worst nightmare.

Despite a common misconception, newspaper reporters hate covering tragic news.

Unfortunately, reporting unpleasant news is part of our jobs.

For approximately 40 students and bus driver James Cockerham, the news was personal.

The bus wreck story was a bit personal for our staff, too.

Mr. Cockerham and his wife, Sue, have special places in the hearts of many employees at The Natchez Democrat. For more than two decades, one of the two has contracted with The Democrat to deliver newspapers to homes throughout the area.

We see them in our office regularly and speak with them in our hallways.

They are good people who always have a smile for those around them.

Maybe that’s why the phone call last week threw me.

Maybe it was too personal.

The caller, a leader of the health care company, shared what he said was his staff’s concern.

Some of his employees were upset, he said, that the newspaper’s report on the wreck didn’t mention that his group treated some of the injured students.

How utterly ridiculous, I thought.

Isn’t it more important to know the children are OK than to know what company deserves the credit for their treatment?

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first such call.

Obviously, we did not omit the company intentionally, but our reporter apparently didn’t get complete information from the sources he interviewed.

The call served as an important example of how some people are quick to put self-interest ahead of the greater good.

But this caller isn’t alone.

Recently a number of readers rushed to judgment after Natchez Mayor Jake Middleton’s accident in which he severely cut his leg while moving to a new house.

Rather than worrying about the mayor’s health — his son said the injury almost severed a major artery — some people were critical of why the mayor was moving in the first place.

Readers questioned if the mayor was moving into a bigger house.

Who cares why he’s moving? Our mayor could have died after a horrible accident. That’s the important thing here.

Last year, we had two dueling factions seeking to lure a prison to Adams County.

We almost lost one prison, because one group was so focused on getting the other prison.

Perhaps it’s human nature to talk about one another, project the worst onto others and always seek to get credit, even when credit isn’t the issue.

But sometimes out of tragedies such as the bus wreck, some good can occur.

The shock of such a thing can cause us to re-examine our lives and re-evaluate what’s important.

Only then can we keep our eyes on the ball.

If we could collectively keep our eyes focused on that ball, imagine how much better our community would be.

Imagine how much the community could come together on issues like recreation and economic development.

Hopefully, one day soon we’ll come together on projects and not continue to worry about who gets credit.

In the meantime, please pray for the Cockerham family, the driver of the garbage truck involved and all the children and their families.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com