For the past several weeks the Register has been running an opinion poll about the newspaper and what people would like to see more or less of.
Far and away, readers say local news is the driving force of why they take the paper.
“Keep it local, keep it relevant,” one reader wrote. “We can always pick up a Kansas City paper or go online for the big news. The Register is our primary means of getting local information.”
Although we have received only 52 responses thus far, we have taken those to heart.
Sometimes we get so caught up in covering news of city and county leaders, our schools, the hospital, college and courts that we fall short of covering the softer and more enjoyable side of life — which, when we peruse other papers, is what we enjoy reading as well.
THE SALE of the Washington Post to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has the news world all in a twitter. His lack of any experience in journalism has the staff concerned.
Walter Pincus, on staff at the Post, however, says newspapers today need to better accommodate readers’ tastes much as Bezos’ hugely successful Amazon.com has done.
Pincus suggests newspapers view themselves as a supermarket with all its various departments.
“I work in the ‘meat department,’” he said of his responsibility to write about national security and other heavy issues.
“But the public is becoming much more ‘vegetarian,’” he said, meaning they want to read about health, science and style as well as human interest stories and stories about animals.
Readers also are becoming more practical, Pincus said, which calls for a greater focus on home furnishing, education, entertainment, and do-it-yourself projects.
The Internet has joined radio and TV with being first in news, Pincus said, but the Web and cable TV are providing more “junk food” — gossip, rather than facts.
This analogy fits perfectly with what we have heard from readers.
At our most recent staff meeting we agreed to get out in the field more and hunt down off-the-beaten track stories.
So when we come knocking, please say yes!
—Susan Lynn