What do readers want?

By Kate McKenna
The American Journalism Review © 1993

Each March, complaints are put on hold when members of the Organization of News Ombudsmen gather to ponder what readers really want.

Year after year, they come up with the same answer: Plenty.

Ombudsmen say readers want newsprint that won’t dirty their hands, funnier comics, better crossword puzzles and accurate television listings. Says Pat Riley of the Orange County Register: “If anything happens with the comics and the crossword puzzle, you should go on vacation.”

Readers also value fairness. “One bad headline can cost us several subscriptions — even if it …

The loneliest job in the newsroom

By Kate McKenna
The American Journalism Review © 1993

When readers get rowdy, journalists take cover. At the Hartford Courant, trouble began in 1979 after the two-century-old newspaper was purchased by an out-of-town chain, sparking distrust among readers who had long considered the paper one of their own. When a new editor changed the focus of coverage from local to regional, the rancor turned to wrath.

First came the picket signs, then the “Un-Hartford Courant” bumper stickers. After angry subscribers hanged the editor in effigy for the eleventh time (he carved a notch in his desk each time), new owner …