How would you change the Post Register?
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Roger Plothow wrote about some changes coming to our local Post Register, spurred by an apparently frank discussion with their community advisory board. An immediate change is to stop publishing local opinion page writers, at least for the summer.
Roger said they are open to fresh ideas from the community, so I thought I would open this discussion thread here to anyone with improvement suggestions. We only have one local newspaper, so we all may as well help it to be the best it can.
I was glad someone told them they were running too much trivia instead of local news. I never like little factoids or gossip news or the little “wierd news” or the little jokes. The only time I have seen trivia done well is by Time magazine, where they do a short list of comparing two related numbers, usually to put them in perspective. An example would be the savings had by cutting a particular program vs. the costs of a larger problem that program helped to alleviate.
Besides giving fresh ideas on what to change, what are some things you enjoy and would like to see them continue? An example would be the restaurant health inspections that have been a bigger hit than when the crime reports started.
Here’s a fresh idea that incorporates user-generated content: a place on their website for people to submit their own local news pieces, which are vetted and published on a page of the West. The intake form on the website would prompt certain questions like who/ what/ why/ when/ where/ how etc., along with the person’s name and phone number. The PR staff could make a phone or two to verify the accuracy of the submitted report. This way we would have a section of “citizen-reported news” that would catch a wider net of local news that no one organization could possibly catch. The website intake form could also provide an upload script for folks to attach related image(s), which could also be published with the news story.
How about that idea?
What are your fresh ideas for changing our local Post Register, and what features would you like to see the PR keep?
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Comments
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0 i like the user submitted news ideas. some of the more interesting submissions could be followed up on by newpaper reporters and expanded into full news stories.
this idea gives some control to users, some feeling of ownership.
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0 0 I think that many people these days feel like I do — the news is so depressing! You read the news, and after 15 minutes you usually feel like packing all your stuff up and moving to the Alaskan bush. I think that the PR should consider a refreshing page that has only good news. Stories from all over, detailing nice events, good things, hopeful things and anything else that just makes a reader feel good. I believe that this page would become a local favorite for the people who read the PR on a daily basis, and help offset that feeling of udder hopelessness that you get when you read the news nowadays.
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0 0 The Internet version of this “Good News” idea can be found at this link:
http://www.goodnewsnow.com/?gclid=CPj74f6i3IsCFSJ-UAodISiyWQ
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0 0 The Post Register has battled with a controversial image for quite some time. Some people love it, other’s hate it. And although the Post Register has continued to tout growth in subscriptions, but has refused to compare the % of additional subscriptions to the % of population growth in the area. All in all, It appears as though the Post Register looking for a new direction may be a result of loss of previous subscribers.
The biggest issue with the Post Register is it does not take care of its customer base. The population in South East Idaho is typically conservative, family oriented, religiously based. The Post Register has continually taken a liberal slant on the majority of the articles they write. They seem more concerned about pushing their agendas than reporting the news. And this is probably a result of the influence of the leadership of the Post Register.
Lets take a look at who they’ve hired on their leadership staff. The key leadership of the Post Register appears very Liberal. The way I see it:
Jerry Brady - Owner - Liberal, so much so that he ran twice as Democratic Candidate for Idaho’s Governor
Roger Plothow - Publisher - Liberal
Dean Miller - Executive Editor - Liberal
Marty Trillhouse - Opinions Page Editor – Liberal
Etc, etc. etc.
You can probably fine a few of neutral viewpoints in the group, but if you were to take a cross-section of the leadership staff, I believe you will find overwhelmingly liberal.
And when you have the overwhelming majority of the senior staff with one viewpoint it is going to be near impossible to have neutral reporting in just about anything. Just reading their articles reveals the unfortunate result.
What the Post Register needs is a more neutral point of view and a renewed focus on reporting the news rather than pushing personal or political agendas.
So how do you get to an unbiased reporting of the news? If the Post Register truly wants to improve, the best way to accomplish this is to replace about half of the editorial staff with those who represent the opposing views. That’s tough to do… but it is the responsible thing to do. And the Post Register has a responsibility to the community to do the right thing in regards to having a balanced staff.
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0 0 besides firing everyone you don’t like or agree with, what would you suggest to improve the paper? who would you hire? what features would you change or add?
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0 0 I would like to see more of the “story behind the story” especially pertaining to local news. What is the cause and what is the impact of the building boom in Bonneville County? Why did two Chubbuck teens take the life of a friend - just to see what murder feels like? How do families of high profile criminals (KM?) adjust from living the high life to a life of disgrace? I guess what I’m saying is I’d like to see more human interest stories featuring local people. We could also use more follow up when such stories are published. Whatever became of Brett Manwaring and the slumlord accusations?
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0 0 Special Code,
I admit after reading through some of your comments, it appears as though you are someone who would agree with the views of the senior staff of the PR. I’m only suggesting a balanced staff to keep the news neutral.
The overwhelming stats of the views of the senior staff speak for itself.
Do you disagree in the concept of a balanced staff to help avoid pushing agendas (even if you happen to be one who agrees with their agendas)?
Don’t you want news instead of propaganda? From ANY side of a political view.
It just kind of makes sense.
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0 0 Sometimes propaganda is in the eyes of the beholder. I don’t see any political leanings in the news coverage, only on the opinion page where it belongs. Please cite specific stories where the coverage was slanted, I can’t think of any.
SweetLove said: Jerry Brady - Owner - Liberal, so much so that he ran twice as Democratic Candidate for Idaho’s Governor.
That just sounds silly. You’re basically saying that he’s such a bad person that he ran for governor twice. Then you went on to plant the Liberal label on more PR senior staff. It’s black or white with you, isn’t it? Liberal against conservative. Me against you. With me or against me. Labels for everyone.
So please point out some of these articles you are citing as the “unfortunate result” of “near impossible to have neutral reporting.”
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0 0 way to attack me instead of answering a perfectly logical question.
way to throw out a loaded question where the only answer is to agree with you. typical republican, cannot ask a straight question because the answer may not dovetail with your own agenda.
oh no i want propoganda over news. of course i want news over propoganda, so must i agree with you?
of course i want balance. thats why i asked you who you would hire? what changes would you make?
try to answer this time without attacking me, [edited by site admin]
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0 0 Good news doesn’t sell!
I actually work in Journalism, In one town that I worked in, (much like IF) one of the local TV stations annouced that they were going to focus on the “good news” of course they still would do the bad stuff also, but put more of a focus into the happy stuff…..Well about a year later, their ratings went down, from 2nd place to 4th place, behind the Spanish station…managers were given the boot, and the usual news returned, this was about 2 years ago and that station is still trying to claw it’s way back up. I know that was TV and not the paper, But the message is the same.
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0 0 Special Code,
You sound angry. I’m sorry if you read things the wrong way. I certainly wasn’t intending to attack you.
Lets review the series of events:
I presented a simple idea: a balanced staff. It seems like a good idea, and one that would help reduce the apparent spin from the leaders of the local newspaper.
You responded with an implication that I want to get rid of everyone I don’t agree with. I never indicated that was the case. And although someone might view your statement as an attack, I’m giving the benefit of the doubt. I stated that it should be a balanced staff. That is all.
In answer to your second question – I’m not sure who the community would want to see on the staff. A good job search should probably take place before that’s decided.
From there I noted that your comments appear to agree with the philosophies of the current head staff at the Post Register. That was not meant to be an attack, only that it appeared that was the case. If you are offended by what Liberals typically support, I understand how you would view that as an attack and I apologize, just as I would understand if I had associated you with someone conservative and you were offended by conservatives.
BTW - I am not a Republican. I don’t view conservatives or liberals as good or bad, just all basically good people with differing views. I just think it is a good idea to have balance to avoid the slants (Liberal slants in this case due) that have been worked into the local newspaper in the past.
So don’t you think a balanced senior staff rather than a one sided staff is a good idea?
Completely off the subject: I hadn’t anticipated it before, but with this article being about the Post Register and the staff there, It wouldn’t supprise me if the PR staff chimed in on the discussion eventually (if they haven’t done so already)
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0 0 I like the “slimmed-down” feel of the paper since the press was in transition. It’s a quicker read and you don’t feel overwhelmed with the sheer bulk. Sunday’s paper seems of reasonable size now.
The PR did have a “Front Porch” page or two for awhile with those inspirational and feel-good stories. They quietly dropped it and, I have to admit, I didn’t miss it. While good news makes us smile briefly, it doesn’t make us stop in our tracks and take notice.
Frankly, the bad news gets noticed because it is 1) less common than good news and 2) more threatening. To have the same “stop-and-take-notice” effect, good news needs to be very sensational or very personal.
Now for suggestions:
Are there really that many NASCAR fans here that it warrants a full page in the sports section? In contrast, Idaho Falls has the best youth hockey program in the state. That would suggest some significant hockey interest in the community as well. So there should be more hockey news in the sports section.
I would like to see Shop Talk expanded to cover more local business news.
Without going into other criticisms, that’s what I can think of at the moment.
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0 0 After reading some of these comments, it’s pretty clear some people already have very rigid ideas about how a newspaper is put together, how we pick which stories to cover and where they play on section fronts.
My best advice is to spend an afternoon in the newsroom to see how it all comes together. I’ve made this offer several times and will continue to do so until people understand that what we do isn’t a conspiracy.
The person who labeled some of the people I work with as “liberal” without ever having spent any real time with them made me laugh. I work with those people every day and in no way would I call them that.
People often read newspaper editorial pages and assume since they are slanted the whole staff is biased.
I’ve often talked to people who believe that and give them the same advice I included earlier - spend some time at the paper to understand how it works.
As far as the points about positive news, that’s also something we hear a lot. But in my 13-plus years in this business, I’ve found that a lot of people tend to gloss over “good news” or complain after a while that they aren’t getting any “real” news.
What I know is that we try to cover as much of a huge geographical region that we can with a small staff. And people will always be disappointed because we can’t cover everything everyone wants exactly how they want it.
Kortny Rolston
City Editor
Post Register
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0 0 I used to work at the Post Register and can affirm what Kortny says about the staff. You should get to know these people before you slap on any labels. Berke Breathed coined a word “shmiberal,” to describe people “who are assumed liberal because they work for a newspaper.” Don’t assume.
I look at Marty Trilhaase as more of a contrarian than anything else. He likes to take conventional wisdom and turn it on its head. Conventional wisdom around here tends to the Republican side. So he turns that on his head. But he’s not above doing the same to Democrats, few in number they be around here.
Take Kortny up on her offer to visit the newsroom, if you have doubts. Get to know the people who work there as people, not as shmiberals.
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0 0 i’d like to see a local reality series where some of these local complainers of the PR get put through some of the PR jobs. walk a mile in their shoes kind of thing
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0 0 I’d say the Op Ed page of the PR is pretty diverse. The fact that they have folks like Ray Swenson and Tom Walsh says a lot.
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0 0 I’d like to them put more limits on the letters to the editor. I’m sick of seeing the same names over and over and over again. Henry Morton, Dolores Casella, Bill Craig, and a slew of others who have reached a point to where they are no longer talking about anything but instead are bashing one another. Don’t they know thats what the internet and sites like this are for :))) (well after porn anyway since thats how the song goes).
Since some won’t understand that last reference you need to watch this. Don’t worry about the visual content as that part is very G rated in appearance and the song is actually a joke song with only two or three PG-13 level sexual references.
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0 0 Even Neal Larson limits his regular callers to one call per week, to give others a chance and so people are not hearing the same voices and opinions all the time.
I would like to see stronger standards in their LTE policy, specifically regarding people personally attacking and name-calling other people.
I read one LTE recently accusing some other LTE writer of smoking dope, and was reminded of a similar comment on IFz that I edited, making me smirk to myself that for all the criticism against IFz, we actually carry more stringent conversation rules than the PR in their LTE policies. (Well okay now we do but we didn’t use to.)
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0 0 About the only thing I don’t see the editorial bias of the PR seeping into is the obituaries–and thank goodness for those. Next to page 1 of The West, I get more news from the obituaries than the rest of the PR.
Marty: run for the state senate, serve a term, walk in their shoes, see how many tomatoes get thrown at you. Then with that perspective maybe we’ll take you more seriously.
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0 0 I agree the PostRegister seems to have a strong bias. Clean that up and you’ve got a good start at a good small-town newspaper.
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0 0 I hate to break the bad news, folks. If my fifteen years in the media taught me anything, it showed me there is no such thing as objective reporting. The reporter’s and editor’s worldviews will always seep into a story despite their best efforts at objectivity.
In fact, here’s a big grain of salt with which you can season anything you read and hear: its all one part fact to nine parts opinion.
Learn to read and hear discriminatingly, picking out the facts and developing your own conclusions.
Most people read and hear passively. They simply open their minds and dump stuff in. Do it actively - evaluate and look for the facts as well as seeing what hasn’t been said - and any biases won’t be so much of an issue.
Personally, I’d rather read reporting with unabashed bias than that from an “objective” reporter. The facts are easier to pick out in the first case because there is no attempt to disguise the part which is opinion.
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0 0 Great points. We are all human and so imperfect, how can we expect any human endeavor (such as a newspaper) to be perfect?
I’m glad you mentioned that we all need to develop media-savvy and information-savvy. I think those two are separating the people that “get it” technologically from those that don’t.
“Drop your liberal bias” is probably not a workable thing.
What are some of the workable suggestions so far?
*user-submitted news, via their website then the best are published on a daily page
*keep the 100/75/50/25 years ago column, and add a pic from each week 100/75/50/25 years ago.
*add a one-year ago today column that summarizes three news items, provides some pictures, and provides follow-ups to what happened
*”story behind the story” or “followup to that story”, which actually I just realized could dovetail with the previous suggestion
*decrease NASCAR racing coverage
*increase hockey coverage
*expand Shop Talk
*limit some folks’ publishing frequency of letters to the editor
*stronger standards for not allowing attacks or personal put-downs of other people expressing their opinions
Now these are some workable ideas.
What are some other workable ideas to improve our local newspaper?
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0 0 Ace ODale makes a good point. So perhaps the best attempt is Point/Counterpoint approach, as they had on 60 Minutes in the ’70s, USA Today uses on a topic each day on its opinion page, and Hannity & Colmes do on the Fox News Network.
So, Joe, add another to your lise: the PR ought to solicit and print a counterpoint in the same issue, on the same page, of each editorial–including Marty’s Cheers & Jeers.
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0 0 I haven’t read the Post Register in years - except for an occasional Sunday paper.
I hope it has improved in these areas, if not these are my suggestions:
*Spell-check & grammatical check.
*Include the complete article (I used to read the articles to find the end was cut off - leaving me hanging.)
[These top two reasons are why I decided not to take the paper any longer.]
*Put national news on the front page.
*Emphasize the things we have in common, and try to diversify the news to the demographics. (I think they were doing a pretty good job of trying to balance religious topics, various occupations, and racial groups, but need to realize that there exists a highly educated population that goes online, because the news is often inane.)
*Because the area is growing, the Post Register needs to grow also. They could include some articles that stretch one’s thoughts (not controversial or political thoughts, but elevated thinking.) [For example: thought provoking quotes, poetry, artful photos which could be suggested or submitted by "guest" writers.]
*There’s a need to include fresh and local writing, from interesting people with character and/or a good sense of humor - rather than articles from AP newswire or other newspapers who are finding interesting writers.
My biggest suggestion is to find someone to write a column similar to The Spokesman-Review’s “Slice” (Spokane, Wa. paper. Of all the places I have lived, and all the papers I have read. . .The Spokesman-Review is still my favorite for news, articles, features, etc.
I am sure the editors of the Post Register realize that they are competing with the free press of the Internet, yet one cannot read their articles online without a subscription. Don’t their advertisers realize they could reach a world-wide audience if the PR was free?
How many others are there like my spouse and I who do not read local news or watch local channels - who might embrace the local news if they would become a bit more sophisticated?
I hope this is helpful.
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0 0 I’d like to see more local news and less national. The simple truth is that if I want national news I’m going to go to the internet where I can browse CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or a host of other national news sites. The last and I’m mean LAST place I’m going to look is the Post Register.
I wouldn’t care if they dropped the A section entirely and just stuck with the West section. Except for the local TV news sites there I generally can’t get local news online so I’m dependent on the paper. And there is so much more they could be reporting on than they are.
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0 0 I’d like to see them ease up on the “anonymous source” policy they have right now. Currently they for all intents and purposes don’t allow anonymous sources. They say they do under very limited circumstances but basically its next to impossible to meet their requirements.
I know, because I personally have experience in this. Once several years ago I approached a PR reporter concerning a pretty serious issue involving corruption (not Kimball Mason). This reporter also knew who I was and personally knew what my position was. But I was only willing to come forward anonymously since I had no doubt that coming forward publicly would eventually cost me my job. They would have found another reason to fire me but have no doubt this would have been the real reason. And maybe after a lengthy legal battle and tens of thousands of dollards in legal fees I might have got my job back. But I wasn’t willing to take that chance, I have a family to feed. I flat out said - anonymous or not at all. They chose not to run with it because they didn’t feel my need for anonymity was serious enough.
So the corruption was never exposed. And now many years later its water under the bridge for me. Exposing it now would do nothing. The most guilty party is retired and untouchable as the statue of limitations is up.
But had it been exposed at the time you would have seen some fireworks, probably some arrests, and a major shakeup in the leadership an important local entity.
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0 0 I think the PR has kept relatively up-to-date with the times, however I also feel their anonymity philosophies are rooted in an old irrelevant era.
I have developed a strong recognition of Google-ability in our lifetimes, and the important need to control one’s own publicly-available information. I’m not doing anything wrong in the least, but I just don’t want my name and likeness splashed nilly-willy where it can be dredged up later by anyone.
I see allowing anonymity as simply respecting folks’ right to keep themselves to themselves.
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0 0 I agree with Joe’s post #28. I think we have to be realistic and realize we live in an area that awards many government contracts. A lot of people have to have deep and thorough security clearances to work on certain projects. So I like the idea of not having to use one’s name for the very reason Joe mentioned.
Google scans this site often. I check using my Ok4Now (please feel free to do the same) to see what Google is showing I last wrote or said, including “fluff” comments in the chatbox. Also, with how Google pairs findings, it may look like I said something, when I didn’t. But until one opens the link and reads it all, one won’t see my Ok4Now and maybe a buzz word like “Marriott” since I wrote that article, will produce the thoughts of someone else with my user name.
So in addition to retaining a username and not being forced to use our real names (which will decrease comments in Post Talk, IMHO), I would like to see the PR change their emphasis in a few areas things.
A few ideas I had have already been mentioned. Additionally, I’d like to see FULL and DETAILED articles of our City Council and County Meetings. I might be wrong about this, but it seems like whichever journalist is covering the City Councils (as Ammon is starting to get included and should be, for the population) and Comminssioners Meetings, is extract the “what’s planned” from what is on the IF City Website.
I’m often tempted to add a Post Talk comment that says, you left off they anticipate talking about x,y,z. But, I don’t.
I look at what we’ve written about on IFz.Com, and be the subject why there is such a pay difference for I.F. City Officers to Bonneville County Sheriff Deputies, or newest sources of power, or planning for new construction and development, in some ways, I can’t think of ANYTHING more important to print than detailed reports from the City Council Meetings.
It does me no good to read the City Council passed all annexation proposals or resolved the airport issues etc. in a two paragraph summary of a meeting that produced 27 pages of the Clerk’s notes. I read the 20-30 pages of City Council minutes, as there is a LOT of information in them. I’m the loser if I don’t know it.
The PR could just make it easier for me, and others, if they would do that work. And I actually think more people would become more involved with civic issues.
It’s almost like “Scouts Honor” followed by Kimball Mason (which didn’t win any awards, if I remember reading that correctly), fried the PR staff of City Gov’t. (”Scouts Honor” only in dealing with the judicial end of things, not the City Council or Mayor).
And speaking of the Mayor, would it be nice to have a column monthly from our local leaders (must include Ammon too) as what they saw as the most important city issues addressed the past month, what they are continuing to work on? I think so.
I believe many more would be empowered to read how the public has presented their letters or own statements at several City Council Meetings or to department heads and changed previous plans the City Council would have passed had local residents not gotten involved.
So I would encourage adding:
1. Much more in-depth reporting about the City Council meetings, especially with so much growth occurring. Key decisions are being made that many may not know about - and that just shouldn’t be.
2. Perhaps a monthly Mayor’s “blog” or column so citizens have a feel for day to day work being accomplished with tax dollars, the long range plans and how the average citizen can testify or write a letter about a specific action occurring in City Gov’t (or County).
3. Kortny, I think there needs to be a webcam in the newsroom. I couldn’t agree more with what you said here about people needing to attend an afternoon to see what really happens. Unfortunately, we can’t all get the time away from work and I doubt even with the printing presses moved we could all fit in the same room. But, it might be nice to have a webcam that allows us to see how decisions are made.
For example, do the editors meet in a conference room and decide about the next day’s assignments based on what reporters learned that day? Or how do two reporters work together etc.?
I don’t know how the logistics would work, but maybe there is a way that at 3:00 p.m. daily a webcam goes live for 15-30 minutes and those who want to watch how the news for tomorrow and beyond is being planned today, could do so.
I KNOW it is not accurate to say all Sr. Mgt. or employees at the PR are liberal. But, for others to know this, perhaps there has to be a way to see the day in day out work, without compromising stories and interfering with journalists getting their work done.
4. I do realize many don’t understand why the PR online, as an Internet subscription only (not receiving the printed copy) is a paid subscription. I went through those arguments with Roger Plothow probably 5-6 years ago and it despite everything he wrote to me, his arguments still didn’t make sense to me.
Then, one day I found something on line which I hope Roger won’t mind me writing here. The Post Register provides us with information. I second Chiasm’s point about opting for more local news and scrubbing more national news as I look for it elsewhere as well.
The Post Register provides us with information, be it from City Council Meetings, or Weddings/Obits, or Shoptalk and other familiar columns/features.
Had we not had the Post Register take on “Scouts Honor,” how many of us would learned what we’ve learned, gotten involved in whatever ways we’ve had and been more vigilent in protecting our children?
Think of what each of you, or someone in your home, does to bring home a paycheck. Should you do that work for free? Why should we ask the PR to give away their work, compiling stories and information for free?
Many larger city newspapers do not charge for basic access, but that is an entirely different situation and not one I want to discuss here.
I don’t think the amount charged for the PR Ads would cover a free PR for all who would subscribe. Maybe in 5-10 years, but that depends on the total circulation and other factors.
I’m not willing to work and share my years of knowledge and the expertise I’ve acquired for free, with those who want me to devote my time to them or their work. How can I expect the PR to provide me what they sell, information - factual news - for free? In my mind I can’t.
The PR has added a tremendous number of links that are free that didn’t use to even be available. I give the organization a lot of credit for that.
Since it’s times for me to renew my PR subscription. Please correct me, Kortny or others if I am wrong, but my online subscriptions has NOT increased a dime in 6 years.
To me, that is value and I will pay $72.00/year for what I get from the Post Register. I say props to the PR for not raising the fee! Other smaller papers have.
The Idaho State Journal held out being by suscription paper longer. But, about 3-4 years ago, they got on board too. Their annual fee is $66.00 as of today. I’ll pay the extra $6.00 for the extra content!
The ISJ does have one good idea I want to pass along as my last recommendation for the PR. Active Duty Military deployed do not pay for an online subscription. I would like to see the PR extend the same support to our deployed military members.
The biggest thing is to keep asking questions of how to improve and change as readers do have a wealth of experience reading different papers and good ideas.
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0 0 The free papers for deployed Idaho service members (who want it) is a great suggestion. It would be a great bridge to home for those folks, and the PR would be that familiar bridge.
The webcam idea is interesting, perhaps actually a video with sound, during that meeting where the next day’s news priorities are discussed and decided. Have someone record it all then you can cut out the boring spots with any consumer-grade video software (even windows movie maker will work for this simple scope), then upload it to the pr website.
We’ll get hints of the next day news ahead of time (giving us a warm fuzzy special insider feel) without giving away the whole story, plus we will see the decision process that keeps getting referenced.
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0 0 Looks like my next comment was lost, but that is ok.
Thanks Joe for suggesting a functional way to make the webcam work at Post Register meetings. I’m not really sure what term we should use, Kortny, maybe you could educate me (at least) what the name of the meetings are.
I truly think if there is an afternoon/noon meeting to plan on the news for the next day or the remainder of the week etc., I believe there are ways to handle public access with electronics which benefit the PR while answering readers questions.
Perhaps, the staff wouldn’t be able to freely talk about all issues they are use to doing, and sensitive stories and/or or others issues, I realize this idea could be challenging. Nonetheless, as trained journalists and editorial staff, I’m sure the PR staff has training to manage what might be a challenging situation.
Joe’s idea of video access as kind of letting us know what to look for in tomorrow’s news, could be very positive. How often do readers greatly anticipate a routine daily edition? (Not a special like “Scouts Honor” or “Kimball Mason”)?
It could be very exciting to see a chef with a Jaker’s restaurant apron on, or someone sitting at a table with a model of a future building, or a clown sitting at the table making us all wonder if tomorrow’s edition will focus on jokes, the War Bonnet Rodeo using more talent in their revamped presentation of the rodeo, or whehter a professional clown was now available for hire for kids birthday parties etc. A tremendous amount of interest can be created by seeing someone at the PR and wondering what story will follow.
A video would allow readers to see how decisions are made and the resulting story/stories from those discussions.
Also, I think MP3 is a real option. In either a video and/or MP3 option, if material is felt to be too sensitive to release prior to the article, it could be released the day after the article is printed.
I believe to observe a meeting live, or in video, a person should have to sign in with their real name. After all, there is “intellectual property” or whatever the correct term for a newspaper is, to protect. The PR Sr. Mgt. needs to know who visited, should ideas discussed in their meeting area show up in another media outlet in the area.
The PR is doing more multi-media things, like most newspapers. Why not add a small video/MP3 library of the planning meetings as well?
This could be exciting and I do hope the PR Sr. Mgt. will give this type of reader involvement serious consideration.
Also, thanks again Joe, for clarifying what I meant about the deployed military members. Of course, the PR would be a bonus having this link to home, to those who may wish to have it. I just don’t know if the offer has ever been made to any deployed military.
I sincerely hope the PR will consider matching what the Idaho State Journal has offerred for deployed personnel. From my POV, this isn’t a political statement in anyway; rather it is simply the PR being supportive of local residents during their deployments around the world.
Thanks for this chance Joe to talk about some ideas here of how we, the readers, might contribute our ideas to the P.R. I think both IdahoFallz.Com and the Post Register should be complimented for asking for our input and trying to improve.
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0 0 It seems like there are several points that need to be addressed.
First, the Spokesman-Review uses a web cam for all of its “story” budget meetings. These meetings are generally where editors review the top Associated Press stories moving on the wire and discuss where stories should be played on a page, particularly A1.
The problem I see with it is it would have to almost be a production in order for viewers to get the whole idea. We have thumbnails of the AP stories and would literally have to read them off a page so people would know what we’re looking at. Also, I have a local story budget I put together during the day. It’s always a fluid situation since some stories might get bumped if news breaks or because they might not be ready to go. Really, the best situation is to have people spend some time in the newsroom. A day would probably do it in most cases. We’ve done this in the past and usually send people out on assignment with reporters to see how a story comes together.
We generally run a list of what is on tap at Idaho Falls City Council meetings on Thursdays in the West section. This was sporadic during the press move but we’re planning on bringing it back full time now that we’re through the move. Reporting on absolutely everything the City Council does in a meetng is not necessarily a good use of a reporter’s time, which is why we have the monitor. A lot of what the council does is ordinary business - approve bids, pay bills, etc. I would rather have a reporter working on bigger pieces about the city like the push for daycare licensing or why residents are fighting a new development.
Now onto anonymous sources. This is a particularly touchy issue for newspapers. We have very strict standards on anonymous sources and very rarely use them. For one thing, people tend to be more accountable when their names are attached to something It’s too easy for people to make some pretty awful - and sometimes untrue - comments when they can always hide behind anonymity. Look at some of the religious bashing that has occurred on this site by anonymous users.
And people - especially newspaper readers - have said over and over they don’t trust anonymous sources when they are used all the time. The Washington D.C. media is particularly bad at using anonymous sources for routine stories on budgets, new bills, etc.
That said we do use anonymous sources on occasion. But the general rule is the information they give us has to be verified other ways or identifying them would cause some sort of serious harm. For example, in our “Of Meth and Motherhood” series, we did not fully identify the woman we profiled. We went back and forth on that for a while, but in the end, decided we didn’t wish to cause her young children, who are in school, serious harm.
I hope this clears up some questions. And again, feel free to contact me if you ever want to spend a day in the newsroom.
Kortny Rolston
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0 0 What I don’t understand though with the PR’s anonymous source policy is like in my case which I’m only going to be vague about since there can be nothing but a bad outcome for me now if I say too much.
The reporter knew me and had talked to me on occasion about other things in relation to my job. Thus this reporter had personal knowledge of who I was and what my job was. That alone gives me a huge amount of credibility about the stuff that went on where I work. It also gave me a huge amount of risk if it became known I was the whistleblower.
Whistleblowers always, ALWAYS, get screwed when they go public. Look at the ones in the library who exposed the financial shenanigans. One was harassed through job reassignment into quitting and the other had stuff made up about her to get her out of there. I’ll bet if both them had to do it over again they would have stayed silent. But they could have accomplished the same thing by going to the PR, being anonymous, and pointing a good sleuthing reporter in the right direction. No doubt the PR wouldn’t have respected their need for anonymity though.
I understand why they don’t want Joe Smith off the street with no obvious connection to Mayor Fuhriman claiming sex, lies, and videotapes allegations (I made this up BTW for examples sake). But if you have John Bates who works for Mayor Fuhriman and has personal knowledge of this stuff then that is a much different case. And John Bates obviously faces potential severe recriminations if he publicly exposes the sex, lies, or videotape. You can argue personal ethics and doing the right thing all you want. Most of us are going to do what I did - choose to stay silent so that you can continue to support your family since most people families well beings are going to come first.
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0 0 Disturbing thoughts,
I’m not sure I even know about your case and I should since I oversaw a lot of that coverage.
You bring up some good points because you’re right - no one ever thanks a whistleblower. In fact, people who do that often can’t find employment or are shunned.
I should also clarify that reporters have a lot of different sources with whom they work. When I was reporting, I had people I talked to just for background or to fill me in on the internal politics around a decision some agency made. I never quoted those people on those background briefings because they were mostly a resource to point me in the right direction or make me think of angle I hadn’t considered.
We get a lot of anonymous tips that we routinely check into. Those are very helpful because I understand that people want us to look into something but they also don’t want to jeopardize their jobs or families. Sometimes, just tipping us off on something is all we need to get started.
Some anonymous sources give us documentation that we can use when researching a story but we don’t quote them or even tell people how we got that information so they don’t get into trouble.
I guess what I’m saying is there isn’t just one type of anonymous source. And since I don’t know the specifics in your case, I’m not sure what happened.
Kortny Rolston
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0 0 Thanks Kortny.
I do realize that the newspaper business is very fluid, which is why there is a deadline at that point the stories are set. I appreciate you considering the idea of a webcam.
Would you consider this idea instead, as I still don’t think most people can make it for an afternoon of observation at the PR, although it would be a tremendous learning opportunity.
How about over a period of time (determined by the PR Staff) a “mock” meeting is recorded on video/MP3 using stories that have already been printed, or fictional ones. If a video and MP3 version were stored as a “resource for people to understand,” I think it would help as well. Some of us learn better using different senses.
I still believe many people are interested in the process of how the newspaper is created. In some cases perhaps we don’t even know the terminology to more fully explain what they want to see.
I’ll use me for an example, I don’t know for sure who sits in on the planning meeting of what is planned for printing the next day. And what happens on weekends? I’m quite clueless about weekend coverage at the PR, except I know you work some.
It seems that you have the job of supervising the journalists on the planned stories. Yet, in the past, it seems like Dean has supervised the stories most likely to ripple waves. (”Scouts Honor” and “Of Meth and Motherhood,” - if I remember correctly).
I just renewed my subscription this a.m. and of course, me being me, I added comments to the area that asked if I wanted to write anything. One are that I focused on was how great the addition so many of the new links on the left side of the online page are. Besides so much content being available at no cost to all who seek it, the PR has added a section about the employees, when they started, previous experience and to whom they report. (BTW - I think someone needs to check a couple of the newer additions as I don’t think they started in 1969).
Also, a superb link that I mentioned to Joe and another user here, was the Ethics section. I’ve read it many times.
Kortny’s example, “Of Meth and Motherhood,” was walked through from start to finish in that link. Dean highlights how information was reviewed with sources and they were given the opportunities to correct or add to it etc.
I strongly encourage everyone to read the ethics information for many reasons. Additionally, there is a collection of organizations for newspapers and other organizations who focus on ethical behavior for the media.
I hope the PR will consider making a mock video/MP3 for access online.
I’m also happy to hear the City Council contents will increase. It is true a lot of what they do is pay bills etc., but the City Clerk doesn’t waste excess space describing that process.
And, I do agree Licensing of DayCare is far more important to me than a dispute one company is having about measurements of a machine they attempted to provide vs. not having it accepted. What is interesting, is I believe in the depths of those 30 pages, the DayCare issue was briefly addressed so Councilwoman Cornwell would work on it further. However, I do understand your point and support it.
Kortny, Thanks for checking in here to see what ideas we are thinking about. Overall, I set a lot of support for the PR here, with some suggestions of what readers would like more or less of in a their locally daily.
Perhaps a PR Chat, or whatever it’s called that you and Roger have hosted in the past, may be useful for all readers to suggest ideas for improvements, if that isn’t already scheduled.
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0 0 I would like to see more technology news reported daily in the paper, instead of the little tech fluff on Sundays.
It would not really inform me because I’m all over tech news everyday, but I see sooooo many great technology news stories that many locals should know about.
Maybe this would be a good candidate for the ‘user-submitted stories’.
What other workable suggestions do you have to improve the Idaho Falls newspaper?
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0 0 I would like to see Mormon apologists like Raymond T. Swenson not have an open forum on the op-ed page to promote their religion. I have responded to a few of his editorials only to have my comments edited out or not published at all. His distortion of historical events should leave room for rebuttal by readers but not according to PR policy…they apparently don’t meet community standards if they contradict the story that the predominent religion wants told in the home town paper.
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0 0 A lot of good ideas have been posted and its really nice to see Kortny responded to them and keep us informed as to how the PR is run. Thanks Kortny!
One thing I miss is having the papers content available online. (for Free!) That is definately one of the things I enjoyed about the Sun-Sentinel & Miami Herald in S.FL. Everything available in that days paper was available online, “for free”. And it would be updated throughout the day with breaking news stories. I guess I can understand why the PR wants to charge a subscription fee though. Being such a small paper, I know it costs time and money to keep this information posted online and up to date. But thats what “ads” are for.
Or, how about giving customers free online subscriptions to those that already purchase home delivery? Why not allow those people access to the content online, instead of trying to take their money coming and going? I remember when I first moved here how shocked I was when I went to purchase a paper and was charged 50 cents for the daily paper. After being used to only paying 35 cents in Florida. (of which they just raised the price from 30 to 35 cents 2 years ago.)
I think there is a lot that can be done to improve the PR and I’ve seen a number of great suggestions listed above, mostly posted by Ok4now and Joe. I also like Joes suggestion on the “tech section” and adding more content/stories. And Ok’s suggestion for a monthly “Mayor Blog” where he discusses what projects he’s working on and future plans, etc.
Also, lets see more local stories instead of the same regurgitated news we all see on the morning or nightly news. Of course its important to print the important news stories around the country and the world, but it would be nice to have more local stories about the community.
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0 0 In my opinion, 50 cents a day is not excessive for a newspaper. It seems like a lot of things were better for you in Florida compared to here. Well, there are many differences between Idaho and Florida. Do those papers have a distribution network that delivers up to 200 miles away, 7 days a week? The Post Register has a large geographical area to cover, and as we know fuel costs add up. I have no way of knowing, but there might also be competition where you came from, which will usually lower the price.
You can get the paper for even less than 50 cents a day with a subscription. I think it’s $140 per year, and sometimes they run specials for half price. As I understand it, the online version is $72 per year. And online subscriptions ARE FREE for people who get home delivery. I don’t know why you thought they weren’t.
I don’t agree that the online version should be free. I can’t see that generating enough revenue to support the staff they have. And if you could get it free online, why subscribe?
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0 0 I have a home subscription, how do I go about getting a username and password for free online content?
And I for one know there is no other competition “paper-wise” in Southern Florida. There’s the Miami Herald for Miami/Dade county and Sun Sentinel for Broward County. The average cost for someone buying a newpaper at the store or from the vending machine is between 25-35 cents most of your larger cities. 50 cents is a little steep. (but th
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Another feature I hope they keep up is the 100/75/50/25 years ago today column. I would like to see it tweaked by adding a picture from that time period also.
Another play on that would be to show three headline stories from this date a year ago.