The value of local news
My newspaper column
I recently spent an afternoon reading articles and essays online about the dumbing down of the news business.
Seems as if everyone with access to an Internet site has weighed in. With all the emphasis on celebrity fluff over civic substance, it's not a pretty picture out there.
I decided to jump into the thicket because of persistent comments -- from what I hope is a minority of readers -- that this newspaper is dumbing down, and, presumably, taking its audience with it.
We aren't devoting much space or attention to celebrity hookups and pratfalls.
The concern goes something like this: "We have had to go to pages 2, 3, 4 or more to even tell that we are at war. We have to search to find out if a day has passed without casualties in Iraq or Afghanistan. Very little news of other parts of the world, or the United States for that matter, is revealed.
"How can you say that a school that might be dangerously constructed is worthy of the front page and the war in the Middle East is not?"
The news from the war and the White House are in the paper, just not on the front page.
In its place -- last week, at least -- were articles written by our local reporters describing news from 'round here: taxpayers being ripped off over school bus tire retreads; a new program to improve teaching at underperforming Guilford schools; a Ruffin teenager who saved the life of a motorcyclist; the delay of some significant highway projects; and, of course, the lasting reverberations of Sept. 11, 2001.
We think that local news is as important as national and world news. Our role is to deliver local news first. Unlike news from around the nation, which is all over television and the Internet, local information isn't as easily accessible. No other news staff has as many local reporters as we do, and we write about what we know best: Guilford County and the Triad.
A recent report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press confirmed that direction. It found that 9 in 10 newspaper readers get the paper for local coverage.
It's all a part of being engaged in what's going on in your community. When we put a City Council discussion about the upcoming bond issue on the front page instead of the latest bombing in Beirut, that is our effort in contribute to our readers' understanding of the world immediately around them.
That said we're sensitive to the fact that some people don't care what City Council does. They don’t care so much about downtown development or school bond issues. And it's true that community often extends around the world, which is why we still have national and world news in the paper.
When we redesigned the newspaper in April, we added a few features to provide easy access to news of the world.
* On the front page, in a feature called "Quick Read," we give readers a glimpse at the biggest news national and world stories of the day and tell them where to find the full story in the paper.
* Inside the A-section, we've added a daily feature called "In-depth" that examines an issue in the news at greater length.
* The New York Times is back, with its insightful coverage and editorial columnists.
Big news happens around the world, and we have it in the paper.
But Guilford County and the region are robust, exciting places, too. People do interesting things, achieve great things and cause societal problems. The stories of the Triad -- the successes and the challenges -- touch every citizen's life, in one form or another.
Far from dumbing down, we best serve you by informing you about where you live, first as citizens of your city and then as citizens of the world.