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Judging news judgment

Want evidence that people think differently? Check out this list of readers’ all-time favorite books.

That wasn’t enough for me, and you can help me write next week's column.

Knowing that “edit a newspaper” is one of the three things that every man thinks he can do better than anyone else, I asked our Reader Advisory Network about news judgment.

On the front page last Sunday, we published a story by Jeri Rowe about a child with a terrible disease and his indomitable spirit. The same day, on page A2 we published a story about the anti-big government protest in Washington. One local and unique to our pages; the other national and all over television and the Internet the day before. One a feature; the other hard news.

I asked the members of the advisory network if the protest story should have been on the front page instead of the story about Stevo.

204 people responded and the final tally might surprise you. But first, some of the responses:

In favor of the protest on the front page:

* The protest in Washington was extremely important. The majority of citizens want a democracy and want to take back their country. For the past 9 months, our rights are being jeopardized and unless something is done we'll lose them.

* Though the story on the young man was interesting and inspirational, it is more of a "life" feature than "front page" news.

* I'd rather see news than features on the front page. The old tugging at the heartstrings story doesn'at appeal to me very much.

* I prefer national or international news on the front page always

* Of course, it needed to be on the front page. Your liberal bias is showing.

* I do enjoy human interest stories and medical information stories a lot, but right now, big brother is getting way too big and is a matter of great concern to most people

* It is the taxpayers march and to say that only thousands were there was a understatement and you downplayed the event with that heading, very deceiving.

* When it's an issue involving the Democrats it's front page news. If it involves Republicans it hardly gets any coverage. Look at the poll taken of people's views regarding the media. It tells the truth.

In favor of the Stephen Ludwig feature on the front page:

* We need to be able to have something other than political news on the front page from time to time.

* The protest is getting enough coverage on FOX.

* Getting more local news stories is more important to me. Yes, national and international news is still important but I am worn out about hearing about healthcare reform..

* I love to see positive human interest stories on the cover every once in a while to remind us all that it's not all about negative issues

* There really weren't enough people there to make it statistically relevant. You just encourage a bunch of people to keep on with something they are being stirred up about without any reason

* I really liked the front page as it was. I guess I am getting a little tired of so much news on government and politics and this front page was refreshing.

* I prefer local information on the front page. The big govt protest story didn't deserve front page if Sen. Kennedy's death didn't either.

* The govt in DC article was where it should have been. The article about the little boy transcends govt/class/politics and speaks to the human spirit.

The result?

A virtual tie: 88 said the Stephen Ludwig story belonged on the front page, and 85 said the protest belonged there. The others said they had no opinion or answered a different question. (My favorite: "it really did not not matter..I can just as easily turn a page...")

I'm going to write next week's column on this topic. Help me figure out what it means and how to use it to improve ourselves.

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Tags: News judgment, Readers, Columns

Posted by John Robinson on Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 9:40 am

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SueP

September 20, 2009 - 1:29 pm EDT

A comment about the "favorite books" thing. Everyone in my house smiled when they saw "The Bible" listed. We finally decided that the N&R doesn't have the omniscience to declare what is (and isn't) the word of G-d, so we ask you to clarify that you meant either the New Testament, The King James Bible or which particular version of the Bible your readers suggested. We vote for Tanach but realize we're probably in the minority.

I think one of our local judges got into a little snafu a few years ago when eschewing the Koran for a witness to swear upon and instead suggesting "The" Bible.

Reminder: we're a country withOUT a government-established religion.

John Robinson

September 20, 2009 - 1:55 pm EDT

I will remind you that I predicted the Bible would get more votes than any other.

http://www.news-record.com/blog/56184/entry/67461#nrcBlk_ArtComments

SueP

September 20, 2009 - 5:39 pm EDT

You're claiming omniscience? Heh.

brian444

September 21, 2009 - 2:18 am EDT

Should a newspaper supply morally uplifting stories that "speak to the human spirit" by transcending the tawdry domains of politics, etc.? I say no. That sort of thing is best left to writers of Sunday School lessons and Oprah. As I see it, a newspaper's job has less to do with being morally uplifting and transcendent than with providing useful information about the real world, warts and all.

"Local Person's Indomitable Spirit Speaks to the Humanity in Us All" requires (a) the spirit to be indomitable so that (b) readers can experience a happy feeling of empathy at a distance. It's a formula, and the both the character and the sentimental effect are consistent. It's the feeling, not the information, that's important. Some people, "worn out by hearing so much about healthcare reform" or "tired of so much news about government and politics," might prefer that feeling to the information about politics and such that exhausts them so, but a newspaper's commitment should be, IMO, to the information--to "news you can use," as they say. There is no useful news in this genre; once you've felt the way you're supposed to feel, the thing is done.

Does Jeri Rowe ever come back and say, "Joe Blow won't do for the human interest story. He wasn't positive enough. He was too much of a whiner about the bad hand life has dealt him"? Probably not. As someone once observed, all people in wheelchairs are heroes; we need them to be heroes because we don't want to think that being in a wheelchair might not be so much fun. We need our old folks to be plucky and cheerful. Let them save their hypochondria and fear of death for someplace else. We need the moral uplift that only the plucky and cheerful can provide. Tiny Tim always looked on the bright side, didn't he? Human interest stories, in short, have to be POSITIVE human interest stories; otherwise we wouldn't want to read them. In the story, the human spirit must triumph, when in real life, it doesn't always. And that's not reporting, it's story-telling.

Doug Johnson

September 21, 2009 - 6:29 am EDT

What page did the NR, carry Cindy Sheehan, and her protest against the war?
That would be front page!
Wonder how many of your readers, drove to Crawford to protest there?
Wonder if the change in presidents, had anything to do with that?
Cindy, is still protesting the war! Ever see her in the news anymore?
Fox gave it enough coverage.
Exact reason they keep growing, only source of news, that is not 100% liberal.
Not enough people there to make it relevant?
Not according to the liberal news! Now it down to about a thousand people.
Your liberal bias is showing? Got that one right!
Funny Rowe had a front page story on the Crazy 6, they only kicked the boy in head with a snicker, whats the big deal. Damn I did not know Louisiana was part of local news!
Your liberal bias, its showing, big time!
For the sick boy and his family, my prayers.

Doug Johnson

September 21, 2009 - 6:51 am EDT

Good news John, Obama to bailout newspapers!
Seems he taking care of all his liberal supporters!
So much for, I will be the president for all the people!
Should have said, I will be president, of all the left wing groups.

Beachwalk

September 22, 2009 - 4:25 pm EDT

Your results did not surprise me at all.
Consider the source. I would expect a liberal newspaper (like the N&R) to have more liberal readers. Therefore I would expect the type of results you got.
I wonder what the result would have been if the Rhino had ask their readers if the N&R protesters story should have been on the front page? I think the results would have been much different.

John Robinson

September 22, 2009 - 5:12 pm EDT

So that I understand your thinking, Beachwalk, you're saying that liberal readers want the protest story inside the paper and the conservative ones want it on the front page? That is, there's no reflection on the value or worth of the Stevo story, right?

If I got that right, do you think it is fair to say that our readership is half liberal and half conservative (assuming there are moderates in both camps)?

I ask that because I hear from some people who seem to think that because they are conservative and their friends are conservative, then most of our readers are conservative. (Applies to liberals, too.)

brian444

September 23, 2009 - 2:27 am EDT

Your readers probably are more conservative than liberal. Guilford is, like the country, a 50/50 political county, but all polling indicates that American are more likely to call themselves "conservative" than "liberal." But say you start out 50/50 in the county, just to give you a break. Who are your customers? I'd guess the following patterns: more old readers than young (i.e. old readers buy at a higher rate), more white readers than black, more homeowners than renters, more married people than single people. All of those demographics skew conservative. Now, no doubt subscription cancellers for ideological reasons probably also skew conservative (especially since fair and balanced news has become available from Fox, Rush Limbaugh, etc.), but I'd bet your readership is still more than half conservative.

John Robinson

September 23, 2009 - 9:07 am EDT

I think you're analysis is flawed because it's too broad brush and leaves out too many other factors. But, if we're losing readers to Rush Limbaugh because they consider him to be "fair and balanced," then they probably never were happy with us.

But say our readership is more conservative, just to give you a break. And say that the 200 people in the readership group is fairly representative. That means that some conservatives were fine with not putting the protest story on the front page. Right?

While I doubt the methodology we're using here, the conclusion I would draw from it is that political preference isn't necessarily the key factor in making front page choices, at least for some.

brian444

September 24, 2009 - 12:31 am EDT

Sure, that's true. A preference for political or human interest, local or national, cuts across political lines. I argued for Kennedy's death as front-page matter, for example.

Get A Clue

September 22, 2009 - 7:00 pm EDT

I couldn't help but notice the right-wing responses to the survey were full of spelling and grammatical errors.
Make of that what you will.

And with respect to which "Bible" a reference to "the Bible" is referring to...I would think an all-powerful, all-knowing God would be powerful enough to let someone know which one was the 'real' one. I also think a god that mighty wouldn't be so gosh darn picky about seing His full name in print.
I once had a student who insisted I destroy an entire stack of classroom handouts because I had the following letters in the following order printed in some citation: G and o and d.
My response: "Seriously?" (She obviously couldn't even keep the whole defacing thing straight, let alone the silliness of the superstition.)
Let the record show no lightning bolts struck down anyone in my classroom that day.