10 tips to get better connected with readers

Many newspapers are making strides in improving credibility by creating an environment where people inside the newsroom hear from the public and respond

By Michele McLellan

As newspapers work to improve their credibility, the place to start often is with better connections between the newsroom and the public.

Efforts range from the appointment of an ombudsman to just staying late once in a while to return that last phone call from a curious reader.

And there is a lot in between. Interviews for The Credibility Handbook, which will be published by ASNE’s Journalism Credibility Project for the April convention, suggest newsrooms are doing more to make sure they hear from the public and respond.

These practices recognize that the public desires a relationship with the newspaper that goes beyond its pages. They also tap into a resource that every newspaper should cultivate: People who care about their newspaper.

“I think it’s extremely important to have an environment in which people in the newsroom actually hear what people say about how they’re doing,” says Jack Fuller, president of the Tribune Publishing Company. “We need to open our ears to that.”

How do you start? Here are 10 tips:

Make it easy for people to get through

Publish telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for top editors as well as reporters. And make sure there’s someone on the other end of the line.

Robert Rivard, editor of San Antonio Express-News, says being available to callers has been important in his efforts to bring the newspaper closer to the community.

“I spend a lot of my time engaged with readers, some nutty, some remarkable, most in between and grateful to be acknowledged,” Rivard says.

Ask readers to help

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s efforts to improve accuracy relied on calls from readers. The newspaper rotated staff members as a reader advocate the field the calls.

“If we want to understand the ways in which we are inaccurate,” says Janet Weaver, executive editor, “we first have to lower the barriers that keep readers from talking to us.”

Organize discussions and critiques

Alex Cruden, chief editor of the copy desks at the Detroit Free Press, gathers a half dozen or so people from diverse backgrounds to discuss headlines he selects. Copy editors listen and ask questions.

The Sacramento Bee invites members of a member of the public to participate in its afternoon news meetings for a week at a time.

“The idea is to get the person’s concept of what news is, on what belongs on the front page and just to hear them question us on what we do and what we perceived to be news,” says Morton L. Saltzman, assistant managing editor.

Involve your staff

The value of staff involvement goes beyond the need for buy-in; staff members may identify systemic problems that top management may not see.

In 1998, senior editors at the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn. asked a committee of 10 that included reporters, copy editors, a news editor, a photographer and one senior editor to look at how the newsroom could improve accuracy. The team, in a yearlong effort, created a 22-page “How-to Guide” that mixes accuracy tips with descriptions of routine procedures for all major jobs in the newsroom.

Explain

Public explanations by editors of key decisions will help underscore a commitment to good journalism – and raise the quality of the debate over what to publish.

Chris Peck, editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., recommends anticipating questions and including an explanation in any story that is likely to be controversial.

“Often we have diffused challenges to our credibility or news judgment by explaining in a controversial story the decision-making process that led to that controversial content,” Peck added.

Explain

Another way to open the door to people who are reading the newspaper is a column by the editor.

“We presume readers know a lot more about us, our methods and motives than they do. They trust us more when they understand,” says Michael R. Fancher, executive editor of The Seattle Times, who writes a weekly column.

“People appreciate explanations and evidence of self-scrutiny, even if they still disagree with what we’ve done,” Fancher says. “This is especially true at the time of a story we know will be controversial.”

Admit your mistakes

Corrections are one highly visible way newspapers can show their readers they are serious about accuracy. Many editors who have launched efforts to improve accuracy report an increase in the number of corrections they publish — because they are acknowledging more errors.

Give voice to your critics

Be generous in publishing criticisms of the newspaper, and don’t drown them in explanations and defenses. Set a low threshold for publishing corrections, even if the tally is embarrassing. And make sure reader criticisms regularly find their way into print — either in the letters to the editor or in editor or ombudsman columns.

Appoint an ombudsman

Many top editors think the most effective and recognizable way to demonstrate accountability is to appoint an independent ombudsman (also called public editor, reader representative or advocate) who has the time and expertise the evaluate public comments, air them through a regular column, and work with the newsroom to respond with improved journalism.

Listen

Encourage your staff to spend more than a few seconds in conversation with a caller or writer and to take the conversation beyond the complaint or question at hand.

Paul Tosto, an education reporter in St. Paul, says listing his telephone number and e-mail address on each story he writes has paid off for him – he has non-official sources at virtually every school he covers.

“It’s taxing in the sense that to do it right you’ve got to be willing to talk for 10 minutes, really have a conversation with them,” says Tosto. “I see readers as somebody who could potentially help me with the newspaper. I depend on readers to feed me information. They’re not going to call me if I’m a jerk or I don’t have time for them.”

(McLellan is writing The Credibility Handbook for ASNE. If you have credibility practices that might help other editors, please contact her at michelemclellan@news.oregonian.com.)

McLellan is special projects editor at The Oregonian in Portland.