Last Thursday, a reader shared her passionate thoughts about a story on Page A-1, and then asked: “Hasn’t anybody else called you to say the same thing?”
I hear that a lot, and my response often surprises the people who pose the question. Frankly, I dont really care whether a readers concern is popular or unique. Many of the best points come from a singularly insightful individual and some very prevalent concerns don’t make a lot of sense.
A couple of cases in point: Only one reader contacted me to note that a recent story mentioning University of Missouri general counsel Marvin “Bunky” Wright misspelled his last name. And only one caller thought to ask why a recent wire brief about the New Hampshire Senate carried a dateline from Boston. (That’s a really good question, by the way. The item came from The New York Times, which covered the story from its Boston bureau.)
On the other side of the coin, 10 readers told me that The Kansas City Star should not have carried news about David W. Logsdon’s murderous rampage in Ward Parkway Center on its front page. In fact, three of those insisted the story should not have been in the paper at all.
“All you’re doing is glorifying him, making him into some kind of a hero,” said one anonymous voice mail. “The Star should just pretend it never happened, to tell all these kids out there that if you do this, were just going to ignore you and you’re going to go away.”
I understand the emotions, if not the logic, behind that suggestion. People feel vulnerable and frustrated when criminals lash out to cause mass destruction, and news coverage can seem like needless rehashing of the carnage for some. Still, Logsdon’s attack on innocent, random strangers in a public place was certainly big news, and I can’t side with the objectors here.
There are times, though, when the sheer volume of responses does speak loudly. The Business desk and I received several hundred calls and e-mail messages about the stock tables after the 2006 redesign, and editors used those votes to adjust the listings to serve the widest possible swath of stock-watchers.
Numbers are also on the side of several features that are very popular with a select group of readers. Woe unto any hapless editor who tries to cut Saturday’s “How They Voted” congressional tally, or FYI’s “Weird News.” And even though Maureen Dowd and Jonah Goldberg’s firebrand columns in Opinion cause a lot of indigestion, they also count legions of loyal fans.
When it comes to your thoughts on The Star’s fairness or accuracy, nobody should ever hesitate to speak up. Those lone voices in the crowd often speak eloquently.
