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How big of a story is it if John Isner beats Roger Federer in the U.S. Open today? High Pointer Drew Weaver beats Tiger in the British Open big? High Point single mom beats the odds and wins American Idol big? Dudley grad wins Olympic medal big? Oh, yeah, those last two already happened.
A1 above the fold, right? Or on the Sports front.
A friend e-mailed me to ask why I referred to the Sen. Craig story as a "mess." Before I answer that, I must point out that it's OK to leave that question as a comment on the post. Over the past few weeks, the number of comments here is down, but those who do comment bring light to the discussion. It's an improvement.
I called the Craig story a mess because it exposes the hypocrisy of our elected politicians, not only Larry Craig but of members of both parties, who act as if his crime is any worse than all the others who are facing allegations of one kind or another. Then they trot out the old media bias card, which is a tired and transparent ploy.Do they all think that American citizens are stupid?
The cycle plays out time and time again. It so off-point of what people are actually concerned about. That's why.
Billy Jones told me to write about this or he'd kick my butt, although he used more colorful language given that he's a poet and all. I told Billy that he needs to get in line, that threats come across the transom every day. Let me just say that he made his case. Besides, unlike the people in front of him, I like him.
We started using a good spam filter about three months ago after the comment spam got out of hand. It has pretty much eliminated that problem.
My newspaper column
Pop quiz:
What is the most frequently asked question I get?
(a) Why is the newspaper biased?
(b) Why are there so many grammatical errors in the paper?
(c) Why don't you have more national and world news on the front page?
(d) Will you please bring Snuffy Smith back to the comics page?
The answer is none of the above. (You knew that, right? Those are all too obvious to be correct.)
The most frequently asked question is, "How can I get a news item in the paper?"
Who knew a blog post about the Danish Mohammad cartoons that some commenters got so excited about would still have some life in it? The Rotarian magazine, which goes to members of Rotary, has an article on ethics in its September issue. It mentions one of the cartoon blog posts in which I briefly discuss Rotary's Four-Way Test. I just wish it had linked to me. Thanks to our blogging friend and Rotarian Patrick Eakes for the tip. (And, when I pulled up that post from February 2006, I found dozens of spam comments. Go figure.
While I'm at it, do the business publications know something we don't? That is, they don't post their publications' content anywhere close to quick. The Business Journal posts three days after publication. Business North Carolina posts a month after publication. Anyway, here is what they wrote about me. I don't know what the headline means: "Paper puts editor on the firing line," as the paper didn't do that. I told Chris Roush that I wasn't worth a story, but an editor can't tell a writer anything.
Update: Editor Kevin Bumgarner corrects me on the Business Journal's posting policy in the comments.
Doug Fisher at CommonSense Journalism has posed a real-life ethical issue faced by The State in Columbia, S.C. You guys have always enjoyed batting them around a bit. Have at this one. The synopsis:
A middle-school student was murdered. Police have a security camera photo of a group of men -- I count nine or 10, depending -- standing at a nearby gas station. The police want to find them, calling them "persons of interest." The paper doesn't run the photograph, but directs readers to the police department's Web site, if they want to see it. (The paper's article here.)
Doug asks: So is the paper doing the public a service by referring people to the police site where they can view a picture the paper finds improper to actually print in its pages or put online? After all, isn't that what we've been harping on all these recent years -- link, link, link (although the paper did not include a live link in the story online, just the referral as you see it).
Or is it a case of being editorially milquetoast, ethically impaired or worse? The law calls doing such things being an accessory. Are we accessories when we handle things this way?
I'd add a few other questions: Does it matter that the nine or 10 are all African American, a group that has historically been sensitive to criminal stereotyping? Or that publishing the photo of a group of men in connection with a homicide that the men may know nothing about may be sensationalist and unfair?
By posing those questions, I sound like I would be disinclined to publish. Au contraire. But guess why.
We've posted the Greensboro City Council candidates' questionnaire answers for Districts 1, 3 and 5. Most of the responses are complete and, we hope, helpful as you make your choice. We plan to add the at-large answers, bios and audio to the Election 2007 site asap. (Like all good sites, we're building as we go.)
And don't ignore the blog.
Amy Gahran at Poynter answers a frequently asked question: "How can I blog without making it a time sink?" It's the wrong question, but I'll address that momentarily. She answers: A blog post is not (or at least, it shouldn't be) a writing assignment you must prep for and deliver as a finished package. Let go of the idea that you must have everything nailed down, organized, and edited before you publish.
She lists three ways:
* Blog your initial brainstorming
* Blog your research
* Blog your interaction
That's right, but they don't prevent blogging from becoming a incredible time drain. To me, they increase the opportunity for even more time to flow down that drain. Instead, I offer this advice:
* Think about your blog while you're doing something mindless. Ideas come to me in the shower. A friend of mine does his best thinking mowing the grass. That time shouldn't count against the blog.
* Write only when you have something to say.
But you know what? That's a natural question, but the wrong one. The right question is, "How can I spend more time with my blog?" What can I do that I should stop doing? Rather than assume that blogging is an add-on, with the insinuation is that it is taking away time from "serious" journalism, how about treating it as journalism itself?
Fact is, if your blog is all that it can be, you'll be spending more time on it because you'll be part of a conversation with your readers. Talking with people -- blogging -- takes more time than solitary writing. But it has tremendous value. Why, as Amy points out, your audience may help you with your journalism.
Please welcome our new blog, To Your Health. The host is not new: Lex Alexander, who before becoming our health and medicine reporter, was an editor and, of course, the host of The Lex Files.
While he's well-versed in blogging, he's the first to acknowledge that he's no Marcus Welby. (Oh, let me update that: no McDreamy.) So, help him find his voice in this new environment.
After pulling off one of the greatest upsets in college football history, Appalachian State is still shaking things up. The Associated Press said Thursday that lower-division schools -- that means you, Mountaineers -- are now eligible for its 71-year-old poll.
Several AP voters expressed interest in putting Appalachian State on their ballots after a shocking 34-32 upset at then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend.
Thank Jim Young for some of that. Explaining his AP Poll vote earlier week, he wrote: Appalachian State -- Not ranked -- Believe me, I really thought about ranking them. With a road win at Michigan, why not? Well, because I'm not allowed to. I checked with AP. Because I-AA has its own poll, App State's not allowed to be ranked in the I-A poll
Can we count that as an illustration of the power of blogs?
Now, if we can just work on the TV announcers and their pronunciation of Appalachian.
Two divergent reader experiences today:
One sent us this letter: The story about Aleyna Castillo in the paper of Sept. 3rd was very moving. Please see she gets this small donation. Attached was a $25 check.
Even though it happens with some frequency, I'm always impressed and moved myself when a reader sends money to us for someone whose story has been featured in the paper. It's a manifestation of that generous spirit I've written about.
Another reader -- this one angry -- complained to one of our editors about a wire photo package about Fashion Week in New York City inside today's feature section. The problem: One of the photos showed a mannekin without clothes. (This photo -- the only one I could find online -- was in our package, but wasn't the primary offender.) I didn't get the call so I didn't catch all the commentary, but suffice it to say that the fact that the naked subjects were mannekins, not real people, didn't defuse the anger.
Like every self-respecting guy, my approach to fashion is to wear out the clothes I have and replace them, preferably with a duplicate of what I'm replacing. Easy, right?
Now I've discovered, thanks to the Fall Fashion preview in tomorrow's Life section that the monochrome look is in for men this fall, and, if I'm going to buy a new suit, it should be a four-button model.
But for this blog's readers ONLY, here's a sneak preview at the slide shows that writer Katie Reetz and photojournalist Jerry Wolford pulled together. The two-minute presentation tells you -- men and women -- just what you want to know about upcoming fashion trends. (Honestly, I don't know that I'm really going to look for vintage buttons, piping and square designs, but perhaps that will help the primary clothes buyer in my household.)
The second slide show is the backstory of how we did the fashion shoot, and it's pretty funny. It's closer to 12 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee.
Sunday update: Story and links here.
My newspaper column
I don't remember much about the first election I could vote in. I can't remember who I voted for.
There was no senatorial or presidential contest in 1970, and, with all due respect to the U.S. House membership, the representative who captured my vote is lost to me.
But I was excited about exercising the third major Rite of Passage conferred on an 18-year-old male. (Rite of Passage One: draft lottery. Rite of Passage Two: buying beer.) I skipped my college classes and caught a ride home to vote.
And I won't forget the pride I felt as I dropped my paper ballot into a box that day.
That was the headline of a story on our local front today about some hip-hop personalities talking to college students about personal finance.
It confused at least two readers who wrote me about it. One said:
I read that story two times in its entirely and for the life of me I cannot find a reference to what the Benjamins is/are or otherwise. I feel like I must be missing something when the headline has nothing to do with the story. Am I wrong, or am I missing something on this? Could it be you put the wrong headline with this story?
I looked it up in my Webster's dictionary and the meaning of the singular is "benzoin" or the tribe in ancient Israel if it is capitalized. I looked up benzoin and it tells me its is an acid compound used as an antiseptic. Spell check apparently did not understand Benjamins either.
Well. Benjamins are $100 dollar bills, of course, referring to the Founding Father whose image is on the bills. It was also the name of a 2002 movie starring Ice Cube and Eva Mendes. And it's the name of a Puff Daddy song.
What? You think that's not the paper's demographic?
We had a lapse in judgment Thursday with our package on graffiti. In short, the story and photos glorify vandalism, which is a crime in North Carolina. We should have been more circumspect, to say the least.
As you can see, graffiti has many interpretations, but I doubt a judge would consider graffiti as art a compelling defense of defacing someone else's property.
The piece was written as a personal column, in which we allow a degree of editorial latitude, but we prefer any suggestion of changing the law come with more thoughtfulness. We publish those on the opinion pages.
This one slipped between the cracks, cracks that I believe we've now filled with a fast-drying epoxy.
Joe Guarino comments.
Create tomorrow's newspaper front page:
From the national news:
* The Petraeus Iraqi war report.
* The sixth anniversary of 9/11.
Locally:
* A requested criminal investigation into the state audit findings at A&T.
* Local legislator reaction to the Petraeus report.
* A local 9/11 story.
* This quirky story of a highly visible court case 12 years ago.
* The General Assembly convening to talk about overturning the governor's veto.
Problem is, you've only got room for four stories. (And I haven't even included Britney Spears in a black-sequin bikini on the MTV Music Awards!)
You make the call.
Tuesday update: Here's the front page. At the time I wrote this post, we didn't have this story about Safety Town and the Legislature hadn't rescheduled its work until today.
If someday we have a world without journalists, or at least without editors, what would the news agenda look like? How would citizens make up a front page differently than professional news people?
If a new crop of user-news sites—and measures of user activity on mainstream news sites—are any indication, the news agenda will be more diverse, more transitory, and often draw on a very different and perhaps controversial list of sources, according to a new study.
Those are the first two paragraphs of a new study by the esteemed Project for Excellence in Journalism.
It's interesting, but is this news to anyone? Isn't that what the Web allows us to do? Aren't newspaper audience and Web audiences different?
As newspapers focus more and more on local news -- both in paper and on their Web sites -- I would expect the audience selections to diverge even more. I don't know that this is good or bad. It just is.
David Gergen spoke to the Greensboro Rotary Club today. He said that he thought that Sen. Clinton would be elected president, based on what he knew now. (He said that he thought the Republican nomination would come down to Romney and Giuliani. He had a good line about Rudy, saying he's the sort of guy people feel strongly about. "You either like him or he hates you.")
As for Hillary, he quoted Mark Shields as telling him that people are going to hesitate before pulling the lever for her. "They will wonder if they really want Bill Clinton back in the White House on a Wednesday afternoon with nothing to do."
The first One Guilford leadership symposium was such a success, we're hosting another. (I'd call it 2.One Guilford, but I wasn't consulted.)
Big names will be in leadership roles: Paul Gibson, Stanley Battle, Don Kirkman, Andy Brod, Amos Quick and Julianne Malveaux. Doug Clark, who along with Allen Johnson, is the major organizer, has the details. Other information including Doug's reflections on last May's One Guilford and audio from that event, here.
Sue expressed concern that it's so near ConvergeSouth. I say let's make it one big learning week. Both, in the spirit of inclusiveness, are free.
While early voting has made the process of casting a ballot easier -- I only vote early now -- it has caused a problem for the newspaper as we have tried to figure out how to give newspaper readers timely information about the candidates and the issues. If we roll out our elections coverage for the beginning of early voting, then people who don't pay a lot of attention until a few days before the actual Election Day have missed it. If we wait to time it to Election Day, we have not served those who vote early. We'll do the same for the General Election.
Unfortunately, we don't have the space to publish everything we need to twice.
One solution: On Sunday, we will publish a one-page election guide that will provide capsule biographical and political information on each of the 32 Greensboro City Council candidates. It's not comprehensive, by any means. For that, we must direct you here.
Yes, I know that Solution Two is to send everyone online where we have much more information. We're doing that, too.
I hope it will help people prepare to make some important voting decisions. While this next point is arguable, I believe it: local elected officials implement policies that have much more impact on our lives that those on the national level. That so many fewer people don't bother to vote in these "off-year" elections is shameful.
Update: Allen Johnson and Eddie Wooten appear on appear on A&T Today on WNAA at 10 a.m. Friday to talk about the town hall meetings we're sponsoring for Districts 1 & 3.
Melanie Sill of the N&O promises a column on Sunday on "how traditional and nontraditional (journalistic) forms can play off each other in ways that end up improving the flow of information." Interestingly, perhaps even courageously, she's going to use the N&O's coverage of the Duke lacrosse case and Durham in Wonderland blogger K.C. Johnson's coverage of the same. (Johnson and Stuart Taylor Jr. have written a book, Until Proven Innocent, on the case.) Among other things, his coverage has taken the media and the N&O to task.
Melanie isn't one of my favorite editor bloggers, but I like her personally and professionally. She's a sharp, tough newspaper editor. I'm looking forward to her take on both "non-traditional forms" and Johnson's coverage. Her thesis, while not new, is correct.
Friday update: More from Melanie.
Sunday update: Never mind.
If parody is the sincerest form of flattery, then Unbuttoned has arrived. Sorta. Unsmuttoned is taking after Ruby, Ginger and Wingfella.
Hi, Greensboro! My name is Olive and welcome to my new blog! There a lot of blogs out there about dating and sex, but girls who write them seem so much more... I don’t know ... successful in the man-attracting department than your average gal out there.
This blog is going to be so much more awesome. Please don’t let this intimidate you, but I have a lot of real-life experience with men (check out my profile). But I most certainly will describe experiences the average Mildred, Gertrude or Blanche can relate to. Promise.
I can't evaluate, given that I checked out of the meat market decades ago, but I do enjoy a good parody, especially when it's not about me.
Update: More here.
Broke my wrist yesterday. It was dark. Rode my bike into a newly installed, that-wasn't-there-yesterday plastic fence at the Hill Street entrance to Latham Park. Ever tried typing with the elbow locked at a right angle and the wrist immobile?
Lemme just say that everything you've heard about emergency rooms was true yesterday. At least I don't have Blue Cross.
My colleague Doug Clark gets it right yesterday in his response to a column in the paper about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report.
The N&R has covered the T&R process consistently, exhaustively and, in my opinion, redundantly as well.
When we have written about the TRC, particularly since its report was released, we've gotten two responses, both about equally. One side says we didn't cover it well or in enough depth, a complaint I understand. Another side -- not the other side -- says we shouldn't cover it at all: the report is out, not much is happening with it so let it be.
The response from the passionate partisans isn't much different than we get on most controversial issues. You should have seen it in the midst of the Fedex and baseball days.
I don't think we covered it all that well, but I also don't think Greensboro citizens were left in the dark about it. I've questioned our coverage of the T&R Project's continued public meetings, not because of the topic, but because so little new seems to happen. Yet we have covered them. And we'll continue to follow the process.
We are going to be adding some new features to strengthen our Sunday lineup. One will be something we call 10 Plus in which we ask community newsmakers questions about things you want to know. We're starting with one of the more divisive public figures -- who else inspires yard signs and bumperstickers urging him to get outta here -- School Superintendent Terry Grier.
But to get answers you want to know, we need your questions. Ask them here or leave them in the comments field.
More on other Sunday additions later.
I've written about my former boss, mentor and friend, the late Cole C. Campbell, several times, but most recently at his untimely death last January.
Cole left many legacies, but the one he felt most passionate about was journalism and its role of building community and democracy. He was also well before his time in the matter of giving journalistic power to the people. So I must link to the new Cole C. Campbell Dialogues on Democracy site.
Cole C. Campbell was passionate in his belief that journalism should play an essential role in a healthy democracy. He constantly challenged those in the fields of journalism and journalism education to find ways to tap into the needs and voices of the people within the public -- to engage individuals and the community in order to hear, validate, and problem-solve with them on issues of the day.
The site is hosted by the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, where Cole was dean. I hope they build out the site. It looks like a keeper for substantive discussions on the future of the business.
(I am writting this one handed because I broke my wrist in a bike accident, which reminds me that many years ago he broke his collarbone after a bike accident. Coincidence? I don't think so.)
In my earlier days, I didn't hesitate to pull a comic strip for offensiveness. I usually said that I didn't mind offending readers; I just wanted to offend them over something important, not coarseness in a comic strip. I've lightened up a bit.
For instance, we published this "Get Fuzzy" strip last Friday. The Chicago Trib didn't. "Some people claim it's censorship, but I call it editing," he said. "We don't allow our own reporters to write vulgarities, double-entendres or untruths, even in jest." He thought the "nut-crunch" joke was just vulgar.
Indeed. Get Fuzzy pushes the line more than any other in our lineup, which, admittedly isn't saying that much given the tameness of, say, Family Circus and Judge Parker.
I didn't get a single call or letter about that Fuzzy. I suppose those who don't appreciate that sort of humor long since left the readership of Get Fuzzy to others.
Allen Johnson writes about the reader response to last Sunday's front page story on Kevin Morse and his parking tickets. While most may express "little sympathy" for him -- he is battling the city over whether he has to pay $2,300 in parking fines -- some have chastised the newspaper for publishing the story. Appears they think we glorified him.
I was personally disgusted with your choice of front page news in my Sunday paper. Of all the subjects you could have chosen to represent my community I feel you made a really poor choice. Why give credence to someone whose chosen career is to represent a higher ethical standard and instead tries to tie up our court system with frivolous lawsuits?
I would have understood if the paper decided to put his picture in section H beside Nifong ... but no ... you choose FRONT PAGE.
Another wrote:
Does Kevin Morse think that he is above the law by not paying his dozens of parking tickets? Being a lawyer, one would think that he would be a model citizen...not so! Shame on the News & Record for giving him front page coverage.
I am chagrined by the blame-the-messenger tone of these sentiments. It says to me that the story didn't clearly communicate that the story was about scofflaws not paying parking fines and the cost to cities. I find that hard to buy, honestly, given that the second paragraph of the story states the lawsuit could cost cities millions.
I guess they are of the school that believes any mention, positive or negative, is good as long as you spell the name right. Personally, I don't know how anyone could think the story a plus for attorney Morse. She certainly doesn't.
In the continuing police department saga, we publish a story tomorrow about where the story stands. (Story here.)
Did these seemingly small-bore charges of obstruction of justice and computer hacking against a detective and his sergeant justify the troops and artillery expended?
Course, it seems like the indictment of the two officers this week has been overshadowed by discussion about non-criminal behaviors of officials not indicted.
My question to you is: what's next? What do you wonder about?
The story isn't over by any means, what with the lawsuits and the Attorney General's office enigmatic description of its investigation being "fluid." That's not even taking into account the city and the former chief's rep. arguing this out in the media. (Despite complaints to the contrary, they should argue it out in the media, which is to say in front of the public, who employ or employed all relevant parties.)
As a manager for the past 25 years, I have promoted, fired and laid off people. I have helped some retire and watched others resign. I know a bit about state personnel laws. which support both employee and employer. I know a lbit about what employers can say about people who leave companies. I know a lot about what former employees can say.
And I know that there are more than one side to every story and that, often, more than one version can be accurate. I doubt there will be any smoking gun here.
Again, from our story tomorrow:
RMA President Longmire, a retired Raleigh police commander, said if Wray were the victim of a conspiracy, that conspiracy would have to include the city manager, city attorney, nine-member City Council, SBI and now the state's special prosecutor.
"How can people believe they all came together in this big conspiracy?" Longmire said Friday. 'What is it about the culture of Greensboro, that people don't seem to ever let go? I think this is going to be another one of those things people don't let go."
We're not ready to let go quite yet. We would welcome suggestions for the next story we should pursue.
We wrote about the challenges facing lesser known City Council candidates this morning.
From the story:
Candidates also express some frustration with media coverage they say sometimes is tilted toward incumbents and those who accumulate a large campaign fund. That kind of attention "becomes like a de facto endorsement," at-large candidate Joel Landau said.
He and others singled out coverage of fundraising as a particularly aggravating trend. That tends to benefit candidates who already have an advantage by being tied to contributors with money to burn, they say. ...
Gray created a blog for his campaign, and though he enjoys it, it's not a solution by itself. "I've got to rely on the established media to be fair," he said.
The rub is that fair coverage does not necessarily mean equal coverage. We do our best to provide equal coverage when it comes to the basics: candidate profiles, questionnaires, and, even, to some extent, the forums. We give candidates every chance to have their say. But stories about fund-raising, about endorsements and about campaigns aren't intended to be created equal. That's where news judgment enters in, and equal exposure for 32 candidates is only one factor to be considered, and it isn't the most important one. We make judgments based on news value to readers and to citizens.
Other factors we consider include: Is the candidate saying something of note? Does the candidate have a history of service that suggests he or she has a strong foundation of voter support? Is the candidate attracting donations and who is doing the donating? Has the candidate run for elective office before? How close did he or she come to being elected? Is the candidate doing something particularly interesting or unique in his or her campaign?
No question it's an art, not a science. Is it unfair to the candidates? In a way, yes. It is, though, the way the mainstream press covers elections, thanks to resources, newshole and, most important, readership interest. Note the number of stories about, say, Hillary Clinton vs. Bill Richardson.
Locally, newcomers do get elected, in both open seats and defeating incumbents. Victory is based on a combination of discontent with the incumbent and past service -- which translates into name-recognition -- by the newcomer. While I would love to take credit for the election and defeat of municipal candidates, I'm afraid that would call for more self-importance than even I can muster. Good people get defeated, and lesser candidates presumably get elected.
Personally, I trust voters to make good decisions. Sometimes I'm proven wrong -- usually when I disagree with the electorate's choice -- but most of the time, I believe that voters know what they're doing. I would hope the candidates do, too.
I'm only being half flip when I quote the Fabulous Sports Babe: "If you don't like the officiating, score more points."
You want to do this?
"In the US we identified the 100 most important political bloggers and we effectively give them content before it's published in print, so that it builds a buzz around the thing before it's there.
"It takes work and it's not the exclusives you might get in a national daily here [in the UK], but it's the sort of thing that create a big buzz and brings lots of traffic the next day," he added.
I'm unclear on how that works with the philosophy of posting news online as soon as it is verified. I'm also unsure about why we would give bloggers a headstart on news before we give it to the entire audience. Still, it's an idea worth exploring if you're game.
We were picketed by some A&T students this afternoon for unfair and negative news coverage. They didn't like the frequency with which we wrote about the State Auditor's report concerning the alleged misappropriation of funds at the school.
For the record, we published four stories about the report from Aug. 26 through Sept. 11. All on the front page above the fold.
Meanwhile -- in an odd juxtaposition of timing -- we published feature stories about the marvelous A&T band Saturday and the rich history of the ROTC program at A&T this morning. Both were on the front page. Update: I switched the pub dates on the ROTC and band stories. The band piece ran today. The ROTC story ran Saturday.
Newspapers write about the good and the bad in the community. We must write about the apparent misappropriation of nearly $400,000 at the state institution. We wrote three stories pegged to the Auditor's report because A&T gave us additional information about what happened with each story. But all that has little, if anything, to do with all the good things occurring at A&T. We would be derelict if all we wrote about were problems at A&T. We haven't.
Personally, I'm delighted the students came over. They are civically engaged, keep up with the news and read the newspaper. That's a good thing no matter how you slice it.
By the way, I was interviewed by The Peacemaker and WFMY. WXII called, but I could never reach them on my call backs.
Attempts to reach Battle and Richard Holden, A&T's chief of police and public safety, were unsuccessful Monday. Holden, who came out of retirement in February after a 35-year career with the N.C. Highway Patrol, is conducting an investigation, school officials said, but has been instructed to funnel all comment through A&T's university relations office.
That is from Rob Daniels' story this morning about the fight after the A&T-Central game.
If our experience is any guide, that's bad news for anyone wanting quick answers and transparency from the state institution, to say nothing of positive press.
Here's what tends to happen. All information is funneled into university relations and little is funneled out. The result is that information is published in trickles and spurts as we find it out. That's the reason stories like the A&T audit spin out over the course of days. We get a little information from one source and publish it. The institution takes a while to respond. We get a little more information from another source and publish it. The institution takes a while to respond.
Sitting down and stating what is known. Unleashing experts to speak directly to the press and public. That helps the public and students understand what's happening and what's going to happen. It makes the administration appear transparent.
And it limits the "damage" a "negative" story can cause because the story doesn't drag on.
Newspaper owners should keep Sunday special or run "huge risks" of losing a unique part of their business, one of the UK's best-known editors told the Financial Times.
My newspaper column tomorrow is about our efforts to make our Sunday paper more distinctive, fashioning it closer to how people spend their Sundays. The paper should have more of a magazine feel. I didn't know that we were following the English lead, though.
"This is unique to Britain and it's what British readers expect. I think anyone who tries to challenge it is running huge risks. We are used to having a different identity of papers on a Sunday and papers with a peculiarly Sunday characteristic."
He said Sunday newspapers' weekly cycle made them more like magazines than newspapers, something that made them less vulnerable to losing readers to the internet.
I am recuperating from having plates screwed into my broken arm by watching the Carolina-Virginia Tech game. I'm annoyed by all the ads digitally strewn across the field and hanging from the ticker at the top of the screen. Many more and more obtrusive than normal. (Of course, I could just be crankier than normal, too.)
So at halftime, I go to my neglected newsreader and come upon this entry by Rex Hammock, quoting a Fast Company piece on advertising:
"...if we're not helping people live better lives, we are not helping ourselves. If all we are doing is interrupting people who don't have time for interruptions, we can't expect their attention. If all we are doing is annoying people who have zero tolerance for annoyance, we can't earn their trust. If all we are doing is pelting people with endlessly irrelevant messages, we can't claim their loyalty. And if we can't claim their loyalty, we don't have a prayer of a positive return-on-investment."
I'm in a business that relies on advertising, but I want it to be effective not annoying, stylish not stupid. And what I'm seeing in this football game can't possibly be delivering the desired message.
Next Sunday, you will awaken to a new News & Record, one with a different look and filled with new features.
Update: Front page here.
I'm introducing it to you a week early because we're excited about it and want you to be, too.
We are focusing on the Sunday paper because Sunday is a special day for newspaper readers. It is our largest paper with the most advertising, and readers have more leisure time to spend with it. It should be burnished to a high sheen.
Ted Vaden of the N&O writes about reader reaction to that paper's coverage of the A&T-Central football game/fight.
That paper published its first story about the game inside the Sunday sports section and its second on the front page Monday. Many readers were unhappy, saying the front page treatment and emphasis on the fight were unfair. And that the paper focuses unduly on bad
