Report to Readers by Susan LoTempio

From the Home Front

  One of the top complaints we hear from readers goes something like this: Why is there such a  constant diet of "bad" news in your paper?

Why don't you ever print "good" news; stories about the good things that people do.

  That's when I think about Susan Martin's column, From the Home Front.

I know people who buy the Friday paper just to read her column in the Home & Garden section.

It differs from, say, Donn Esmonde's column because it doesn't deal with hard news. In fact, it's vastly different from anything else in the paper because, technically,  it doesn't deal with anything.
Anything except what's important and relevant to every family in the community.

Martin writes about things that are hard to describe, but easy to relate to. Today's column about phones is a great example. Who doesn't have a memory of family phone issues from the days when we were growing up?

Like all good columnists, Martin struggles with finding just the right topic, then flushing it out with the perfect (and personal) anecdotes. She often gets her ideas in the middle of the night, she's told me.

But, boy, do readers respond.  A column last year about adopting a third cat generated huge response from people who completely understood the situation. An even bigger response came after she wrote about what grandkids call their grandparents. And the feedback she received about her column on laundry chutes even surprised her.

Readers often ask her about the regular cast of characters who appear in the column - her daughter, husband, mother - and the three cats, of course. It's as if her family has become part of readers' families.

Someone who turns to Jerry Sullivan's column in the Sports section as soon as they get the Friday paper may not also turn to Martin's column. But many women tell us they want more to read in The News that's about their lives and interests and families.

That's why From the Home Front is hugely popular with readers, especially women. And it offers, at least on Fridays, a bit of happy reading that all readers clamor for.

Here's the link to her most recent column. Enjoy!

Where are the weddings and other hot topics

Readers are asking what happened to the wedding and engagement announcements in the Life & Arts section.

  First of all, they have not been dropped. Rather, they were moved in January to a new feature called Celebrations, which runs Sunday in the Spotlight section.

Traditionally in the first quarter of the year, there are very few weddings. The reason? Weather and the season of Lent.

Wedding and engagement announcements are a paid service now, but we've checked our records and there have been about the same number of announcements published so far this year compared to last year. In other words, there weren't many either year.

From May to October, the big wedding season, you will see the many happy faces of local brides and grooms on our pages.

Now, back to that other pressing issue:  Sabres commemorative medallions: We will be getting more albums, and you will be able to order them with the same coupon used for ordering the medallions that local stores ran out of. The coupon will be published in The News on April 18 and April 19.

Also: Thanks to Libby56 for the comments she made on this blog. She's right, I do take a lot of complaints, criticism and angry comments each day, not just on the blog but also on The News' Reader Hotline. And they don't pay me enough!

As for Libby56's question about the steps required to sign in for blog comments, most Web sites require some type of registration. It helps cut down on spam and offers other necessary protections.

We'd like to see more comments on all The News' blogs, and we're hoping that registering won't inhibit people from commenting.

   

Covering the war in Iraq

Shall we move on today from the issue of Sabres medallions to something much more serious?

Let's give it a try.

This week I received an e-mail from a reader who asks an important question:  "Why is it that we NEVER hear of good things happening in Iraq...or see pictures of our soldiers helping the people? Is there a reason we are shielded from the positive things that are happening? I think news should be all-inclusive, not one-sided."

It is discouraging, if not downright depressing, that the stories and pictures filed from Iraq by our wire services (like the Associated Press) seem to be all about death and destruction. We aren't reading much about the rebuilding efforts that are supposed to be going on there, or about any improvements in the daily lives of the people of Iraq.

There's a simple reason for that: the violence that has overtaken that country IS the story. Reporters are covering - at considerable danger to themselves and their photographers - the bombings and fighting that disrupt any semblance of a normal life in that country.

Because of the violence, reporters are restricted where they can go and whom they can talk to. That severely restricts their ability to get around the country to report on other stories. And if they can't find them, they can't write about them.

We have occasionally published stories and photos showing American soldiers helping Iraqi citizens, especially children. But we can only offer them to our readers when the wire services supply them to us.

I wish more of the news coming out of Iraq was uplifting, but we are at war and war news is seldom good.

More medallion mania

Day 2 of the hunt for Sabres medallions has gone pretty much like Day 1.

  The demand far exceeded the supply. But, remember that if you can't buy medallions at local stores, you will be able to order them by mail. Look in The News on April 18 and April 19 for the form to use to order any that are missing from your collection. In the meantime, keep clipping the coupons in the paper each day for individual medallions. You will need those coupons to purchase medallions at the store or if you buy them by mail.

If you are wondering why no one (from the company that does this promotion, to the stores that carry the medallions, to The News staff who put it all together) expected such craziness over these commemorative medallions, check out our front page story today about the Sabres No. 1 ranking in ESPN The Magazine's list of pro teams that pay back their fans for the time, money and emotion invested in the team. Here's the link.

The medallion sale has garnered a lot of media attention from local radio and TV reporters, but you should also check out our story today that explains how it happened and why. Here's that link.

Attention Sabres fans

The response to the Sabres medallion offer has been mind-blowing for us, frustrating for those who weren't able to get the first one in the 24-medallion set.

  First of all, no one could have possibly guessed that the Daniel Briere medallion would sell out by this morning. No one was expecting fans to show up at local stores with 10 or more coupons to buy 10 or more Briere medallions.

   Did we underestimate the demand? Did we underestimate Sabres mania? Who knows, but here are the facts:

1) We ordered thousands more of the medallions than the company that puts the promotion together recommended. We knew people would want to collect them.

2) Fans who couldn't get the Briere medallion today will be able to get it in the near future.

Here's how: The News will publish a form that can be used to order any medallion that fans were unable to get in the stores. Keep your coupons and submit them with the form.

3) The albums (there are more of those available) and medallions are already showing up on eBay.

4) We're getting calls from out-of-towners interested in collecting the medallions.

5) Rest assured that we're working all day (and perhaps even into the night) to keep up with the demand. As soon as I find out when the form for ordering medallions will be in the paper, I'll let you know.

Those pesky mistakes

You'll often find a box at the bottom of Page A2 in the print edition of The News called Corrections or Clarifications.

That's the place where we admit we aren't perfect; that we made a mistake in a story, column or  headline. That we are, after all, only human. Just like our readers.

A correction in Thursday's newspaper (you can find it on Buffalonews.com by typing Corrections in the Search box) is an interesting case in point. Two mistakes were made in a short brief that was part of the Local News Briefs column published earlier in the week. But the mistakes weren't made by an editor or reporter. The mistakes were contained in the press release sent to The News.

In a perfect world, reporters would double-check every single fact they include in a story - even a brief - but that's virtually impossible. We rely on credible organizations to provide correct facts - especially when it comes to something as basic as the location of an event. If something looks a bit off in a press release, reporters will pick up the phone to check on it.

Incorrect information from a press release is embarrassing enough. More so are the mistakes we make all on our own. The rule in this newsroom is that once we learn a mistake has been made, we correct it in the next day's paper, or as soon as we've gathered the correct facts. We want our readers to know that we take mistakes seriously.

We're often asked why Corrections and Clarifications are on Page A2 and not on the page where the story initially ran. For example, if the mistake is in a front-page story, why shouldn't the correction appear on the front page.

We look at it this way: All mistakes are bad, no matter where they appear, and if we anchor our Corrections box on Page A2 every day, readers will easily find it.

What would make all of us happy would be to eliminate mistakes altogether, and human though we may be, that's our goal.

From print to the Web to action

  We dipped our toes even deeper into that pool of Web site possibilities this week.

   A front page story on Tuesday and another on Wednesday focused on two important community issues. But instead of the stories ending with the last print paragraphs, we offered a link to a blog on  Buffalonews.com, and invited readers to get involved.

Tuesday's story dealt with the problem of potholes - and getting them fixed. At this time of year, I don't know anyone who doesn't get that sinking feeling (pardon the pun) when they hit a deep one on a local road. Potholes can rattle your body at the same time they blow your tire.

So we asked readers to use the Inside the News blog to tell us their pothole stories. We've heard a few and we'd like to hear more. Think of it as a community therapy session to rid ourselves of pothole frustration.

Our front page Focus story today concentrates on the serious challenge to restore trees damaged in the October storm. It's going to take a community-wide effort to restore the "treescape" that we lost last fall.  And we're asking Western New Yorkers to share their ideas how to "retree Buffalo Niagara" on the Inside the News blog.

Here's a chance to make a difference through the power of the newspaper, the outreach of the Web site and the collected effort of those who live here.

Live, from New York

  One of the big stories around town in the past few months has been the proposed auction of antiquities from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

The proposed auction of 207 pieces from the gallery's permanent collection is now the actual auction, and reporter Colin Dabkowski is at Sotheby's in New York City today to report on the sale of the first group of items.

He will file updates on this story that you'll find on Buffalonews.com today. Look for further details in his report tomorrow in The News.

Colin is the newest reporter to join our Features Department. A graduate of Syracuse University, he was a summer arts intern at The News and is now a full-time arts writer who will focus on the local art and theater scenes.

Two months into the job, and he's already pulled an important assignment that includes a trip to  Manhattan. Not bad.

Also keep your eyes on Buffalonews.com for a new blog for gardeners.

Written by Jackie Albarella, who contributes gardening pieces to our Friday Home & Garden section, Jackie's new blog will be full of observations and guidance for those who can't wait for the growing season to begin.

TV viewers take note: another way to find updated program listings is by clicking on www.buffalonews.com/entertainment. Just type in your Zip Code to get the listings for your area.

Time for television

  Plenty of readers let us know about their frustration when they turn to the TV Topics section to see what's on TV but the listing doesn't match the show on their screen.

Oops.

The truth is, for quite some time we've been unhappy with the service that provides the TV grids for the Sunday section and the daily paper. It's their job to make sure the TV listings are as updated and accurate as possible, and they've fallen down on the job too many times.

So, we're in the process of switching providers with the intention of publishing more accurate TV listings. It's a complicated process to have the grids designed specifically for all of Western New York's cable systems transmitted  to us - via the computer - and the testing is set to start this week.

One more note on those TV listings: The TV networks and local channels are known to change programming up to the very last minute before a show airs. And since TV Topics is published a few days before it's distributed, you can bet some programs have been added or dropped before the section even lands on your doorstep Sunday morning.

The best thing to do is to check the more current listings in the daily paper - just to make sure your program is on when you think it is.

And, on another TV note: We have recently dropped the VCR Plus codes that were included in the grids. We've carried the codes (used for recording programs) for many years but have realized of late that most viewers have moved on to newer devices like DVR recorders.

We're monitoring how many complaint calls we receive, but feel pretty sure that most Western New Yorkers don't use the system anymore.

As they say in the TV biz, stay tuned ....

Headlinese

A thoughtful reader wondered about a headline he bumped into on Page D3 of the March 3 Buffalo News.
  Actually, the headline stopped him in his tracks.
  The story was about an incident between two students at Clarence High School prompted, according to authorities, by an alleged racial remark. One student was white, the other black, and whatever the alleged remark was, it was apparently made before Christmas, though the incident took place in early March.
When the story was written, the black student had been suspended for five days because he did the hitting. The white student was not suspended because, according to school officials, he did not hit back. But, the school district said it would investigate allegations that it was the white student who   made the racial remark, and if true, would lead to discipline for that student, too.
OK, that's the background of the story. The caller, however, was more upset by the headline, which said: "Black student suspended after incident at high school/District to investigate alleged racial remark."
  Why, the caller wanted to know, did the headline have to say "Black student"?
It implies that "black kids are trouble no matter where they are," he added.
  Instead, couldn't the headline have said, "Student suspended for incident at high school following alleged racial remark." At least that wording would not imply black is obviously guilty.
I'd bet the headline writer (who, by the way is not the same person who writes the story) chose those words because the suspension was the newsiest angle of the story. And often at the crush of deadline, the broader implications of headline wording can be overlooked.
Do I wish it had been written more carefully? Yes, because newspapers should be very careful not to  reinforce stereotypes.
There's also the issues of fairness and accuracy because the headline squarely puts the blame on one student, even though there were two students involved. When the investigation is complete, they both may be equally at fault.

The (cartoonist's) pen is mightier than the sword

   Adam Zyglis has been an editorial cartoonist for The News for just under three years, but he has already made his mark.

As we announced late last week, Adam took third place in the 2007 National Headliner Awards for editorial cartooning. The top two winners - Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and Matt Davies of the (White Plains) Journal-News, both have a Pulitzer Prize under their belts.

Did I mention that Adam Zyglis is only 24 years old? And a homegrown guy - a graduate of Alden High School and Canisius College.

Placing third "was really shocking," Adam told me Thursday. Since the contest is dominated by the big names in the world of editorial cartoons, he thought he'd have to enter for many years before getting noticed.

Adam, who has been drawing since he was 5, came on board after Tom Toles left The News for the Washington Post - and that was during a period when many newspapers were not looking to replace editorial cartoonists.

He had already won a basketful of awards in college, and when he was younger, he won the Editorial Cartoon Contest for local middle and high schoolers sponsored by The News' NeXt section.

Adam was studying computer science and math at Canisius until he was encouraged by some of his professors to switch gears and focus on his drawing talent and his interest in politics.

After a summer internship in The News' art department, Adam became a full-fledged member of the staff. He's drawing four to five cartoons a week now and politicians with familiar names have felt the sting of his pen (or pencil).

Sometimes he will create illustrations that accompany feature stories - one of his best was a rather bizarre rendering of the Erie County Fair, which many people love and asked to be made into a poster.

Adam says the best part of his job is the creative challenge: "The freedom to express yourself in a 4 by 5-inch space." The hardest part? "Trying to stay fresh and consistent."

No doubt the local news scene will give him much fodder in the future, as will the goings-on in Albany and Washington. At only 24, Adam's take on politics is not only fresh, it's far more insightful than many people twice his age. To see Adam's work, go to  http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/editorialcartoons/index.html or   

http://www.adamzyglis.com

Meet Mr. McCarthy

  Robert J. McCarthy celebrated his 25th anniversary at The News today by receiving a pin and a handshake from the publisher.

  Then he went back to work.

  Bobby Mac, as I sometimes call him, is The News' political reporter and Sunday columnist. He also sits right outside my office, which is how I know he spent the day mostly working, not celebrating.

  What's important to McCarthy is getting the story - and getting the story right. And we're talking a lot of stories. When I checked his byline in our electronic library, there were close to 4,000 with his name on them.

Bob does his job the old-fashioned way, by cultivating sources, keeping in touch with them and earning their trust. Which is no small feat when you're covering politics.

His interviews with politicians are legendary - he's polite to a fault but never shy to point out inconsistencies in what they are telling him.

Bob McCarthy can work the phones like few reporters I've known. Mondays and Tuesdays seem to
be his busy days to make calls as he catches up with sources and prepares to write his
weekend column (which appears in the Viewpoints section). He takes his notes on a yellow legal pad, turning to the computer only when it's time to actually write the story.

Then there's that famous McCarthy laugh. As one reporter put it, "Bob's laugh reverberates throughout the whole newsroom."

There's been a lot of laughing over the past 25 years. And a lot of talk about St. Bonaventure, his revered alma mater.

But there's also a lot of respect for the man and his work. Commented a colleague: "You never know what Bob's personal opinions are about candidates or politicians. He never mentions them in the newsroom and they never show up in his stories."

That's the definition of a pro.
 

What's missing?

   Two of the meetings News reporters covered Monday night - one in Lancaster, the other in Depew - resulted in two pretty substantive stories of interest to residents of those villages.

However, when they opened their Tuesday morning edition of The News to find out what the village boards were up to, they would not have seen the stories.

A glitch in our pressroom late Monday night resulted in the wrong plate being put on the press, and voila! - the wrong news was sent to that area of our readership.

The beauty of the Web is that once we learned of the mistake, we posted the stories on Buffalonews.com. Also, fresh versions of the stories will be in Wednesday's printed paper.

  In the right editions is our goal.

Which brings me to another benefit of publishing live local news on Buffalonews.com. Say you live in Northern Erie County and get that edition of The News. But your parents live in Hamburg and you're interested in what's going on at that end of Erie County. Your print edition may not have Hamburg news, but you can find it on our Web site.

All news, all the time.

Contact us

We've been hearing from people who are having some difficulty finding the Contact Us link on the redesigned Web site.

I'm told by our tech-guys that a link has now been added to the footer of every page that says "Contact Us."

  Apparently, it was always there but it was called "Help." (Helpful it was not.)

   The same link can also be found on Buffalo.com.

Planning the front page

Over the years, I've had many readers ask how we decide which stories to put on Page 1. And now that we're live on buffalonews.com, and you can see the actual front page via a click of the mouse, it seems like a good time to let you in on the process.

It goes something like this:

Each week day at 11 in the morning, all the section editors (Features, Sports, Business, Local News) gather in the Editorial conference room along with the graphics editor, managing editor and executive editor to discuss the top stories of the day - local, state, national and world. At that time we sketch out what looks promising for Page 1.

Often, a story that a Business, Sports or Features reporter is working on will be pitched as a Page 1 candidate. Somewhere in the mix will be an offering from our Albany or Washington bureaus.

The game plan at this first meeting is to get the best and the freshest local new stories on the front page, and that includes the daily Focus Story, which is a deeper look at a local issue.

Those same editors gather again at 4:30 in the afternoon for an update on what news developed since the last time they met.

Another Page 1 plan will be drawn up, and work will start in the Graphics Department to design the front page.

Of course, many big stories can break after that afternoon meeting, and a team of editors at work until the wee hours of the morning are charged with getting those into the printed paper.

This week, though, editors working both day and night, have the online front page to update with breaking news. And since the news never rests, neither do we.

Express yourself

  "You say you want feedback, but... If you REALLY want interactivity, try comments at the end of each opinion column and feedback will arrive by avalanche."

So writes an interested party to this blog. And we agree. We want interactivity, We want an avalanche of comments - whether they agree with what we've written or not.

Comments at the end of columns and stories are what we're working toward, but we still have some glitches to work out.

In the meantime, readers who want to express their thoughts on any and all Editorial content - and we know there are many of you out there - should use the "Inside the News" blog. Feel free to react to Donn Esmonde's column or today's focus story or even the movie review in the Life & Arts section on that blog.

Believe me, you will be heard.



 
 

The blogging world

  One reader of this blog wonders why we started an "American Idol" blog when not everyone is interested in that show. Where are the other entertainment-related blogs, the reader asks.
 
  The way we see it, it's hard to ignore the mania around "Idol" and it was a no-brainer to involve local fans through a blog.

  It's also not the only entertainment blog we debuted this week. Our pop music critic, Jeff Miers, is blogging about the highs and lows of the music industry, local and otherwise. And some people would consider sports blogs a form of entertainment, but that's a subject for another day.

We plan to add more blogs in the weeks and months to come, and the newsroom is keeping a list of ones we'd like to do. But I'd like to hear from you: what blog subjects  - entertainment and otherwise - would you like to see on Buffalonews.com?

  When it comes to the blogosphere, where should we travel next?

We hear you

I'm happy to read how many of you like the redesigned Buffalonews.com and hope you'll continue to send us your comments.

A few writers - from all parts of the country, I've noticed - have asked questions I'd like to answer.

First, why the "old-fashioned looking" font for The Buffalo News logo at the top of the site? Well, while we're aware that everything on the Internet is supposed to look young and fresh, we want the site's masthead to match the one in the printed paper. The font is familiar to our readers and it represents our long and proud history of providing news and information, first in print, now on the Web.

Readers looking for the Sudoku puzzle and the lottery numbers can find them as they always have, through Buffalo.com. That site, by the way, will also have a new look. Expect to see it later in the spring.

Readers are also asking for easier ways to send comments to the Editorial staff. For now, I'd advise you to click on the e-mail addresses at the bottom of local stories. We're working on making the "Contact Us" link easier to find and use. Stay tuned...

Which brings me to this reminder: Buffalonews.com is a work in progress. There are changes and improvements yet to come, one being links for more detailed information related to our stories.

We've made a good start; more good things are on the way.
   

Let's hear from you

We're really excited about the newly designed Buffalonews.com. Offering breaking local news, special features and blogs designed specifically for our readers are things we've wanted to do for a long time - and the day has finally come!

As I stated in my previous posting, this opens a whole new world of communication between you and The News, and we'd like to have your comments on the changes and additons on this Web site. This Readers' blog is the vehicle for your comments.

Tell us what you think about the new look and the new features. We want to hear from you now and in the future as the Web site unfolds

It's a new world

People ask me all the time what a readership editor does. Some papers have ombudsmen, others have public editors. Neither of those titles match what I do as The News' readership editor.

Basically, I am your link to your hometown paper. I listen to your concerns and your suggestions, as well as your criticisms and complaints. I also try to resolve them.

Most often, readers and I connect over issues involving the news content in the paper, but often I'm asked to help out when readers encounter delivery issues and when they are frustrated trying to get local items into the paper.

We feel it's important to offer readers multiple ways to connect with us, and this blog is the newest  and very exciting way.  (We also have a reader phone hotline at 849-6024.)

I hope this blog will increase the conversation between you and The News. My goal is to give you a glimpse into why we do what we do and to listen to your suggestions on how we can do our jobs better. Along the way, I hope we can learn from each other. And maybe even have some fun.

Newspapers - whether in print or on the Web - are a fascinating, exciting business. Every chance I get, I'll give you an inside look into the business of covering the news. And introduce you to some of the people here at The News who work hard every day to give you your morning paper.