News-Record.com

Some editorial board members at The Philadelphia Inquirer have been calling former subscribers who cancelled their subscriptions during the contentious election season. They're trying to woo them back. Here's the instruction memo on Romenesko.

Steve Lovelady of CJR Daily doesn't think much of it: "It's an oddity of the newspaper business that whenever a paper's circulation goes into a free fall, it's the editor's neck that most often goes on the chopping block."

Later he writes: "Which raises this question: If the editors are doing that, what the hell are the solicitors in the circulation department doing? Maybe writing editorials and running the newsroom?"

Seems to me that it's the responsibility of the editors to talk to readers, particularly disgruntled ones. I want everyone to read the newspaper because it informs the community. It's important. So, when people quit the paper over something we wrote, I'm happy to talk to them, explain our position and listen to theirs. Our circulation department's philosophy is for the news department to put out a quality paper and they will sell it. But I don't know how you put out a quality paper if you don't want to talk to readers and ex-readers. It's part of the job.