The Editor's Log

Letterman and the lost Greensboro cockatiel

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:24:38 -0500

A couple bloggers noted the News & Record's appearance on Letterman last night. Here it is. Thanks to our friends at WFMY, who passed it along. Update: Here's WFMY's story. Bottom line, bird still lost. Update: News researcher David Bulgin passes along the link that the N&R was mentioned in "Small Town News" last month, too. Here's the clip. Greensboro is the final item, at about the 4:10 mark. (Personally, I liked the one at the 3:05 point better.)

1,000 words

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:50:36 -0500

Some folks on the Debatables blog are debating our photo of Maurice Green, the candidate for school superintendent from Charlotte-Meck schools. One e-mailed me and the editor of The Charlotte Observer about the photo. While the published photo probably won't qualify as a mug shot, it appears to be one more associated with a criminal than that of a professional. Clearly public perceptions of these type of images can not be understated, and it simply was not a good impression for a man who has less than 48 hours to make one with the residents of Guilford County. The sad reality is that many have already formed their opinion of this man solely based upon this published picture. When the names of the two superintendent finalists were announced Monday evening, we requested the home papers of the candidates -- the Observer and the Laurinburg Exchange -- to send us photos. When the photos came to us, we had a traditional posed photo of Dr. Prince at her desk and an action shot of Mr. Green. To make them size equivalent, we cropped both down to mugshot size. While I quibble with the e-mailer that Mr. Green's makes him look like a criminal, I understand his point. Here's the original photo we received from the Observer. Seeing the entire photo shows the context of Mr. Green's facial expression. He was standing, clearly about to answer a seated questioner in the audience. Cropping the image down to a mugshot makes him look less flattering. That wasn't intentional. We will have different photos of both candidates today as they make their first public appearances in Greensboro.

A moment of reflection

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:22:51 -0500

Amid all the hecticness over 24/7 publishing deadlines, stretched-thin staff and the challenge of understanding a new business model, it is hard sometimes to remember to stop and take a deep breath. This column in The New York Times reminded me. Unfortunately, you have to register to read it. But it's worth it. It is about a geriatric doctor going about her rounds and how she falls into the trap of treating death as just another part of her busy day. The nut graf for me: I learned that day that I needed to slow myself down, to appreciate the gravity of the moment, the power of time and the depth and proximity of my work. It was a very big deal. In this business, we don't deal in death, most days. But we do start the day at a run and end the day in a sprint, with a bunch of 50-yard dashes in between. And then the run starts all over again. It is, I know, not unlike many other businesses. This just happens to be the one I know and love. It is worth remembering that we should stop every so often to reflect on what we have: the pleasure of going wherever we like and asking all sorts of impertinent, important questions of others; the opportunity to learn new skills as our craft evolves and expands; the joy of working alongside inquisitive, passionate and funny people; and the attention of tens of hundreds of thousands of people who look at our work, including many of whom who pay cash money for it. That's worth appreciating. Now, back to work.

One way to save the news

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:24:48 -0500

The Fox affiliate in Las Vegas has begun featuring McDonald's coffee in a prominent product placement on its morning news/talk program. Invariably, this will be met with calls of outrage from journalists all over. Not here. Assistant Sports Editor Margaret Banks is all over this revenue enhancement opportunity. She proposes "selling sponsorships to the afternoon budget meeting: 'Here's Wednesday's sports lineup, brought to you by Duracell. Duracell … the world’s best rechargeable battery. Period. OK. We’ll have coverage of East-West all-star soccer …" Me, I'm happy with the sticker ad that occasionally adorns the front page, but Margaret is an innovator and I don't want to dampen that spirit.

The changing newsroom

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:06:13 -0500

I've read a number of reports about the latest survey of newspaper editors by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. I haven't read the actual report yet, and I'll get to it, but the stories seem consistent. We march right along with most of what the other papers report: smaller staff, smaller newshole, less world news, more local emphasis, more movement to digital. One point to make before I read the whole thing. Some commentators bemoan the cut back in space devoted to international news. We scaled back some years ago because our research showed that a vast majority of readers said they got that elsewhere. Why use the newsprint to give readers something that they don't look to us to provide? (I was surprised that 15% of newspapers over 100,000 reported not having reduced their staffs over the past three years. I wonder where those papers are. I know they aren't in N.C.)

Origins of a story

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:31:09 -0500

The best thing about this story -- well, no, not the best thing. The best thing is the story of these all-American men -- but one of the next best things about this story is how it ended up on the front page this morning. John Appel, with whom I have traded e-mails and blog comments over the years -- it would be fair to say that he and I don't always see eye-to-eye -- sent me a link, recommending I read the Stars and Stripes story about the firefight that involved two of the Triad's fighting men. I did. It was Saturday morning and I didn't think I had much chance of reaching anyone at Stars and Stripes, much less getting permission to reprint the story in today's paper. But I gave it a shot. Went to their Web site and shot an e-mail to about six different people telling them we wanted to reprint it and asking about the rights. I got an immediate response from the editor of S&S, granting the rights. Knowing something about deadlines and press schedules, he said we could handle the paperwork later this week. I suspect it helped that the editor, Robb Grindstaff, is an alum of the Asheboro Courier-Tribune and knows where Haw River is. Update: Writer Steve Mraz is a 1998 UNC Journalism School grad so he knows where Haw River is, too. Readers often ask us to reprint articles published elsewhere; they are usually columns that affirm the reader's position. Most of the time, they come from publications or writers that don't permit reprints or by the time they reach us, the columns are a bit moldy. Either that, or they are stories from the Internet with origins that are either obscure or impossible to track. Maybe it was because everything fell together nicely, but I like how this worked. A reader alerted us to a good local story we were unaware of and it was on the front page of our next edition. A side note: An editor working Saturday asked me if they should call the families of the two men from the Triad as a courtesy to let them know the story was being published in our paper. (Presumably they knew it was published Saturday by Stars and Stripes.) I said I didn't feel strongly either way, and I don't know if they did.

Afghanistan firefight: "They fought like warriors"

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:06:43 -0500

"It was some of the bravest stuff I've ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then paused. "Normal humans wouldn't do that. You're not supposed to do that -- getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head ... It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ' em off." Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard. "Just hardcoreness I guess," he said. "Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don’t want to come in and try to get us." That's end of a story in Stars and Stripes this morning about the firefight in Afghanistan that killed Cpl. Pruitt Rainey of Alamance County and wounded Sgt. Matthew Gobble of Thomasville. The piece by Steve Mraz is powerful. Read the whole thing and listen to the multimedia. It's a the latest exhibit of how compelling journalism can shine a light into places most readers fear to go. You might think -- at least I do -- that the traditional wire services would send us more like this. I guess they are too busy running with the pack following Obama in Afghanistan. Fortunately, the good people at Stars and Stripes are going to allow us to reprint this story. (Robb Grindstaff, a former GM at the Asheboro Courier-Tribune and now executive editor of Stars and Stripes ~~in Europe~~, made it happen. Thanks, Robb.) Don't you love the description of the men from the Triad: "Just guys kicking ass, basically." Related: We have memories of Rainey and a little bit of inside baseball on publishing a story about his death. Update: I should have credited John Appel for tipping me to the S&S story. Thank you, sir.

A step toward city transparency

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:34:11 -0500

Because I have been critical of how the city has handled the case of the three police officers accused of assault, I will give credit where credit is due. As promised, the city notified the media of its action in the case. Two of the three Greensboro police officers accused of sexual assault by a female officer were fired today, according to City Manager Mitchell Johnson. Hold on just a minute update: Saturday's story.

Greensboro Gynecology: An absence of information

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:44:35 -0500

This story about the computer tape stolen from a member of the staff of Greensboro Gynecology Associates is an interesting one. Police say that 47,000 people have been notified that their personal information may have been on the tape. Note that police are saying that. The medical practice isn't saying much of anything. Virtually all of our information has come from police and patients. The practice sent a letter to the 47,000 people, but the patients said that it didn't have much detail. A computer expert cast doubt on the veracity of a statement in the letter that the stolen data would be difficult to access. Greensboro Gynecology hasn't talked with us or other media, best I can tell. Two e-mail responses to questions from reporter Ryan Seals haven't contained much information. Patients, though, have talked with us. Many of them are angry and asking questions, the same ones we ask: The tape ~~and laptop were~~ was stolen after thieves ~~broke~~ jimmied a window in the employee's car, but the employee didn't notice the theft until the next day? The theft occurred on a Thursday night, but not reported to police until the following Wednesday? Then a letter wasn't sent to patients until at least after June 16? The data was not encrypted? That's some of the anger. Others want information: What information about me is at risk? How do I protect myself? What companies do I need to contact to safeguard my identity? Greensboro Gynecology is certainly not a public entity in the government/taxpayer-supported sense so the usual avenues to information aren't there. But the company sure is public when 47,000 people are possibly exposed. As one reader said to me: They have no clue what "transparency" means either. They don't know how to do damage control. They handled it wrong; a phone number or web video would have been a good start. If you call the office now, they have no one to talk to you. There's a lesson there.

How to fab your walls

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:21:43 -0500

Newspaper. My advice: Stay with black & white. You can do more with it. But before you start gluing, be prepared to change your room color scheme as newsprint yellows after a week or so of sunlight. Happy Friday. (Via Coudal Partners.)

Batman and the Joker

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:40:07 -0500

Just for fun, we took a page from our magazine cousins today and produced two different Life fronts on the release of "The Dark Knight." The papers were spaced so that the same neighborhood got different versions, and the different issues made it into the same box. Collect both! Credit goes to assistant features editor Mike Kernels and artist Tim Rickard.

A good roadmap

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:30:28 -0500

Now that we've faced the reality of the newspaper business, what now? Where do journalists go from here? Where do news companies go? Go to where the people are going, right? Well, duh. (Funny, though, how we have such problems figuring out where that is.) Now, thanks to Michele McLellan we have some information from Jeffrey Cole, who runs the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern Cal, that helps shine a light. His research on young people and the media is filled with potential for news companies. As McLellan reports his comments at a conference yesterday: Life of a 12-24-year-old: * Will never read a newspaper but attracted some magazines * Will never own a land-line phone (and may never wear a watch) * Will not watch television on someone else's schedule much longer * Trust unknown peers more than experts * For the first time (2005) willing to pay for digital content * Little interest in the source of information and most information aggregated * Community at the center of Internet experience * Think not interested in advertising or affected by brand, but wrong * Everything will move to mobile * Television dominates less than any generation before (important but not the only thing that's important to them) * Want to move content freely from platform to platform with no restrictions * Want to be heard (user generated) * Use IM. Communicate through Facebook. Think e-mail is for their parents Some of this research will surprise of some of us, and my guess is that many will deny it. "They will trust peers they don't know over us??? They don't care about the source of what they're getting??? They don't use e-mail??? That doesn't make sense. Everybody uses e-mail! How can they not trust us? We've been here 100 years!" But this is an excellent roadmap showing us where people are moving. It's mobile. It's social networks. Our "trusted brand" is devalued. We can talk about various platforms; they just want it when, how and where they want it. The challenge for news companies is to diversify, expand and experiment. The challenge for journalists is to learn and use new digital skills to extend their journalism. Steve Smith of the Spokesman-Review has another take on Cole's talk.

Deleting comments

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:22:29 -0500

Commenters Fred Gregory and jaycee and I have been carrying on a conversation/debate about when comments should be deleted. (Some of the conversation has occurred off-line.) It was provoked by a particularly offensive comment someone made on this post about Tony Snow's passing. Fred suggested I delete the comment because it "is beneath contempt." While I don't disagree with his evaluation of the comment, I am reluctant to delete it. It doesn't expressly violate our terms of use that I can tell. (The terms even warn users that By using the Online Service web sites, you may be exposed to Content that you may find offensive, indecent, inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise objectionable.) It also pushes me further into the gray area of deciding which comments are contemptible and which aren't. And I am not convinced I am the best judge of that. (Now I pretty much only delete comments that insult other commenters or contain profanity. And I've probably only had to do that a dozen or so times.) I also think that other readers can judge for themselves the intelligence and value of comments. When someone says something stupid, it usually comes across as stupid. But I could be wrong. Should I tighten the comment policy?

Decisions in publishing: A soldier's death

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:47:50 -0500

We published a story today about Pruitt Rainey, who was killed Sunday in Afghanistan. The Burlington Times-News had the story, too, but didn't publish. Editor Madison Taylor writes: We actually had a story ready to go Monday night that was at least as documented as the current one by the News and Record (sic). By Tuesday night we had a lot of information the N&R didn't have -- including the rank and base where the young man was stationed. But what we didn't have was military confirmation and as an editor who worked in a military town that presents a problem for me. In addition, a military casuality officer had yet to visit the family by Tuesday night -- which is unusual based on my experience. From our perspective the News and Record story with only two sources, no military rank, no base is way to skimpy to publish. Our reason for publishing wasn't complicated. The death of a local serviceman in fighting in Afghanistan is news, and we believed it to be true. We had family and church confirmation of his death. There was a lot more information we wanted for the story, but couldn't get. Still, we didn't think much about holding the story to await the military. The Times-News went ahead and published its story on its Web site this morning, presumably without military confirmation. Because the News and Record (sic) has a story on its Web site about this incident and Channel 2 does as well, I’ve decided to post ours so readers will at least have more information. But I’m not comfortable with it. I would not have changed what we did, but I understand the Times-News decision. When to publish what you have on sensitive topics is often a tough call.

Howard Coble on the front

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:59:25 -0500

Does this story about Rep. Howard Coble and its display seem as if we are giving him an advantage in an election year? The question was raised yesterday. We decided that it is noteworthy that Coble has become the longest serving Republican in the state. With the election a long four months away, we didn't think the story would unduly sway any voter now. Had we been trying to parse his views and votes over 24 years, we would have handled the story differently. Of course, Dr. Bratton may not see it that way.