Readers of The Bee are edging back toward normal. This past week the newspaper’s content prompted increasing reader complaints about a range of subjects beyond the shared anguish over horrific events.
Readers once again noticed problems with the type, graphics, missing data in stories and even long-gone comics. For most of the previous two weeks, complaints about news and feature content had quieted considerably.
Many readers still see events in the sensitive context of recent terrorist attacks, and a few remain unhappy with expressions of opinion or fact they consider inappropriate. Columns and cartoons generated lots of letters to the editor. When The Bee reported military deployments, one reader felt that was unwise even though the Defense Department provided the information.
The Bee ran an article explaining the proper display of the U.S. flag, and followed that etiquette in front of The Bee building on Q Street. But a few readers were unhappy when The Bee published photos of improperly displayed flags.
After The Bee ran a wire story that reported that some people in other parts of the world were not sympathetic to the U.S., a Penn Valley reader wrote that was “a senseless waste of ink” and labeled the story “negative smut.” The letters to the editor column has been jammed, including some letters complaining that The Bee allowed letters expressing opinions they disagreed with.
Generally, readers continued to be appreciative of the continuing coverage of the terrorist attack aftermath. As one reader put it: “There ain’t nothing like a newspaper for understanding a mess.” But one Sacramento reader was offended that The Bee’s Business pages included a Wall Street Journal column he felt was, “at best inappropriate, and more likely insensitive.” The column dealt with New Yorkers dealing with the loss of their offices, and how such workspaces are comforting, important and, for now, lost.
“How sad it is,” the reader wrote, “for these two people to whine about their surprising sense of loss relating to their workspace … Well, here is a news flash — over 6,000 people perished. Thousands of children lost parents, lost children and became widows.” The column was about an attempt to get back to normal, something not everyone was prepared to do.
Details and data matter
Some Bee readers, however, were ready for other things and pointed to other issues.
For example, when The Bee’s Business page reported Monday that “CEOs leave workers in dust on pay,” a reader noticed that the data supporting the conclusion were a bit weak, and perhaps misleading. The box of detailed data compared pay levels for CEOs, an “average worker” and a “minimum wage worker.” The problem, she pointed out, was that the data was not comparable. The CEO average pay of $13.1 million per year was only for the largest 500 corporations in the nation, though that was not mentioned. The workers’ pay levels were for all workers at every company, a much larger base.
Also, the story relied primarily upon two organizations for the source of information — the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy — but never explained exactly what those organizations stand for or what they do.
The reader did not dispute that CEOs make a lot more than average workers do, but felt The Bee was “a little sloppy.” The reader encouraged The Bee to properly and completely label data used in the newspaper, and make sure the details are checked for accuracy.
Comment: Most people would agree corporate bosses make a lot of money, but the details need to be specific, attributed and authoritative.
A similar complaint came from another reader regarding a Monday story with the headline “Middle class not so well off.” The reader wanted to know the authority for that conclusion, and why conflicting data (which he cited from books as he talked on the phone) seemed to be ignored.
The story was based primarily on data from the California Budget Project, an organization that wasn’t clearly identified. The reader argued that data in the story were selected in a way to substantiate the conclusion but ignored other data that could be taken to establish opposite conclusions.
Pitfalls to avoid
Both stories demonstrate pitfalls newspapers should avoid:
- Organizations that do studies on social and economic issues may be authoritative, but may not. Stories based on studies and research need to explain carefully why readers should accept either as credible. I suspect that fewer than 10 per cent of Bee readers ever heard of the three organizations cited as the primary sources in these two stories. To assume otherwise is to invite reader skepticism, or suspicion.
- Graphic boxes alongside stories should add accurate detailed data to help readers understand issues. When the data is unclear or the sources obscure, the little boxes are a waste of space and confuse readers.
There was positive feedback from other readers.
Many callers continued to praise The Bee’s ongoing coverage of the events in New York, Washington and around the world. “Your paper is wonderful,” one woman reader called to say. “We really enjoy it.” Another reader called to point out a story that met his high standards, which has not always been the case.
He pointed to last Monday’s article on “What Price Rice?” He felt the story about the connections between taxpayers and the rice-growing industry was exceptionally well done, provided a lot of important details “without meaningless percentages,” offered clarity and avoided injecting opinion.
Other readers noticed that the color reproduction of photography seems to have improved in recent weeks, though at least one other reader mailed in a package with samples of ink smeared so badly the text on a page could not be read.
Another reader who receives the first edition of the newspaper repeated his earlier plea that The Bee sports department should print a brief recap of local college games that missed the first edition because of deadlines. He is in the odd position of knowing his team played a game, sometimes in Sacramento, and not being able to read the result in The Bee.
And then there was the faithful fan of the comic strip Shoe; six months after The Bee dropped it, he still wants to see it return. That doesn’t seem likely, but the editor got the message.
A time of transition
This newspaper reflected in the past week the conflicting emotions felt by many in the community: When is it appropriate to move on to other, less important, things? Officially, flags returned to the top of the poles after one week of official mourning, but not everyone was ready for the change. Officially, professional baseball and football went back to their playing fields. All the seats are not filled.
It is easy to understand an individual’s discomfort that another person, or a newspaper, might seem to worry too much about something as inconsequential as sports, office space or even misspelled words in a newspaper, given the events of the past month and the uncertainties of the days to come.
The Bee advertises that it provides readers “Life, captured daily.” The test of how well it does that is not only by recording events that shake our world but also reporting the smaller events that shape our daily lives.
