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Bear in mind that, as a self-selected survey, the results aren't scientific, but they are helpful.

Here are some topics that respondents said are important to them, and some of my initial thinking:

* Local news. Your interest in local news outpaces everything else. That mirrors national newspaper research. I've written often about our efforts to increase our local news coverage.

However, many who responded said they preferred that local news remain in the local section, leaving the front section open for national and international news. We use the front page to display the stories that we think are the most important and most interesting to our readers and to the community. Because television and the Internet provide so much coverage of world news, we can provide a greater public service by focusing our attention on news about local people and events.

That said, many of you suggested that we publish more in-depth stories about national and world issues. That is in the works. A redesign of the newspaper scheduled for later this spring will include deeper coverage of a national or international issue every day.

* Investigative reporting. You want more, and so do we. We are beefing up our investigative report. Last year, we wrote about the dangers of lead paint in homes, the ease with which illegal immigrants can get driver's licenses and work in North Carolina, and the illegal use of video poker machines. One of our key goals for the year is to write more stories of consequence to readers and the community.

* Positive news stories. It always surprises me when people tell me that we don't publish any "good" news. Every day there are stories about achievement and success, but perhaps there aren't enough. We understand that, in many ways, life is measured more by progress than setbacks. We know that we must reflect the positive as well as the negative in the newspaper.

* Objectivity. Many of you perceive the newspaper to be more liberal than you prefer. While the newspaper's editorial stance is properly beyond my reach -- the editorial page editor and the editorial board set the paper’s positions -- our news coverage should reflect no bias. Occasionally, we fail in that effort. We'll continue to strive to play it straight down the middle.

* Comics. If I had ranked the items in order of those mentioned most often, the comics page would easily top the list. Readers suggested all sorts of changes to the comics page, but there weren't any clear trends. One person's favorite is at the top of the next person's expendable list. Before we add or subtract any comic strip, we will do a deeper survey specific to the comics.

* Sports teams. Several respondents asked that we publish more stories about professional and college teams from across the country. "There are more teams than the Braves and the Panthers." Yes, there are dozens of professional teams and hundreds of college teams. Unfortunately, we don't have the space to cover them all equally; even the largest newspapers focus primarily on their home teams.

* Race. "Report less about racial tensions," one woman wrote. "It only pours salt into a wound that can never heal." Several people made similar requests. That's a tough one for us. With the continuing investigation into racial profiling in the Greensboro Police Department, the upcoming report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the anticipated opening of the civil rights museum, race relations will continue to be in the news. While it may seem to some that we roil the waters, our intent is to report the news aggressively, and if it takes us into racial issues we'll follow it there.

Thank you again for responding. If you didn't, you'll get another chance next month. When all the surveys are in, we'll delve into them more deeply, and I'll report what we find.

John Robinson is editor of the News & Record.