Got a gripe about your local newspaper? Well, you are not alone.
Every newspaper receives complaints. Readers bring to a newspaper a vast range of perspectives and expectations. Increasingly, at the invitation of editors, they speak up in frank terms. The Oregonian is one of about 45 newspapers in the United States with a position such as mine to help field readers’ complaints and respond to their thoughts.
What is called the public editor at The Oregonian might be the reader representative, reader advocate or ombudsman at other newspapers. The Organization of News Ombudsmen, with members (including a few broadcasters) from 14 countries, helps reader representatives exchange experiences and ideas.
An informal survey conducted earlier this year within the group asked about the top concerns of readers, listeners and viewers. The results were not surprising.
Accuracy — or the lack of it — was at the top of the list. “Accuracy” for purposes of the survey included not only factual matters, but also misspellings, grammar and missing context.
Perceptions of bias also rated high. Some readers think reporters and editors mix in their own opinions with the news, especially when politics is the topic.
Page One story selection and presentation, headlines and ethical issues such as invasion of story subjects’ privacy also came up.
In any given week, readers of this newspaper might call or write on any or all such topics.
Accuracy most often relates to basic facts undone by carelessness or haste, but readers also find problems in more complicated matters, from logging and fish runs to taxes.
A half-dozen certified public accountants and other readers called early last month to dispute the premise and logic in a wire service story about the taxes paid by the nation’s wealthiest people in relation to increases in their income. John Harvey, a senior editor in charge of the National/International desk, agreed with the readers.
He was on vacation when the story appeared, he wrote to one of them, and “was perplexed and flummoxed” when he saw the story, which he said focused on a “meaningless comparison.” The story is an annual one that he has fought to keep out of the newspaper, he said.
Maybe next year.
Allegations of bias might be about police and protesters, Israelis and Palestinians, or University of Oregon and Oregon State University football teams. But the most common source almost certainly involves domestic politics, from the statehouse to Washington, D.C.
Early last month, for example, a wire service story carried the headline “Republicans block money for hungry kids.” The first paragraph contained similar language. Near the end of the item, readers learned that the money was for “an international school-lunch program.”
The lead paragraph and the headline made broad and uncalled for assumptions that a number of readers criticized. Readers can decide on the merits of the situation without such interpretation.
Page One complaints were common during the 2000 election season when some readers thought they saw partisanship — to the left as well as to the right — at every turn.
Sports on Page One is another candidate for criticism of story choices. Not surprisingly, two readers called Thursday to protest the front page play for the Trail Blazers’ hiring of Maurice Cheeks as their next head coach.
Some readers think sports should never be on Page One. However, in a city with one high-profile pro sports team, reader interest is high, and like them or not, the Blazers command a lot of discussion and attention.
Readers interested in seeing other public editors’ commentaries on such topics can turn to the ombudsmen organization’s Web site — www.newsombudsmen.org — for their perspectives.
