Not every question that comes the Reader Rep’s way has to do with weighty journalistic subjects such as what goes on the front page, whether to use anonymous sources or whether to use “affect” or “effect.”
Occasionally readers wonder about other aspects of the operation. Perhaps you do, too, so here are the answers to a few questions that came my way recently:
Why did you start putting Channel 5 meteorologist Mark Johnson next to the forecast at the top of your weather page? Why him and not one of the other TV weather people?
Over the years, The Plain Dealer has had a variety of cooperative arrangements with just about every television station in Cleveland. Most recently the partnership has been with WEWS Channel 5, a deal that has involved teaming up on charity and other community improvement campaigns, occasionally assisting each other with news coverage, and promoting each other’s special projects. For example, Channel 5 and The Plain Dealer work together in raising money and publicizing our Holiday Spirit campaign and the Cuyahoga County spelling bee.
The weather forecast is another cross-promotional agreement – Johnson refers to The Plain Dealer’s weather page in his nightly forecast, and the newspaper puts Johnson’s photo on the weather page.
The five-day forecast you see across the top of the weather page is not Johnson’s – that and all the other weather information on the page comes from AccuWeather, a company that syndicates customized weather data to newspapers all over the country. Perhaps that will change soon, however – representatives from the two news operations are trying to iron out some logistical hurdles that will allow us to print Johnson’s forecast instead.
What happened to Jeff Darcy? Did he take a buyout?
No, he didn’t. Our award-winning editorial cartoonist has been absent from these pages since Nov. 10, after he suffered a minor stroke (definition of a “minor” stroke: one that happens to somebody else). He spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, after which he was placed under the lash of a physical therapist who has him working hard to regain his strength.
Trouper that he is, Jeff came to work while he was having the stroke (although he didn’t know it at the time) and tried to draw a post-election cartoon, but wound up having to leave before he could complete it. You may remember the piece: Sherrod Brown as Charlie Brown, kicking Lucy AND the football. Staff artist Ted Crow finished the drawing for him.
Jeff paid us a visit Friday, looking fit and trim. He hopes to return sometime next month, and the return of our staff cartoonist will be a welcome sight to both the newsroom and his many fans. One of them, Mary-Louise Kirk of Lakewood, wrote me just this week that “He’s head and shoulders above any of these fill-ins who seem to have been in our PD for weeks!”
If you can’t wait until next month, you can get your Darcy fix in the Forum section the last two Sundays of the year – Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 – in a reprise of his best stuff from 2006. Also, you can check out the last six months of his daily cartoons at www.cleveland.com/darcy.
What happened to the Spider-Man comic book that used to come with the Sunday paper?
Beginning Aug. 27, The Sunday Plain Dealer began including a weekly series of comic books that reprinted the early adventures of Spider-Man, stories that first appeared when the Webslinger was created in the early 1960s. The series was expected to run for 46 weeks. Unfortunately, a contractual dispute developed between the newspaper and News America Marketing, the company that was providing the comic book. It proved impossible to resolve, and Spider-Man’s run ended after 13 weeks.
The Spider-Man strip that runs in our daily classified pages is the current story line and is not related to the Sunday books.
Why is the newspaper folded off-center, so that the top and bottom “halves” of the pages are different lengths? Can’t your equipment fold the paper in the middle?
Sure, we could if we wished, but the paper is folded that way on purpose.
We want the paper to come off the press with a “lap” about an inch longer on the top of the section than on the bottom. Then, when the paper runs through the line of inserting machines, the top half of the paper can be lifted up by the “lap,” and the machine can shoot other sections (classified, the Friday magazine, etc.) or advertising supplements into the middle of the paper.
What’s the best way to get a letter to the editor printed? Does it have to pertain to something that’s been in the paper recently?
Well, the first part of our product’s name is “news,” so obviously that’s important. Letters that have the best shot at getting published are ones that are topical (get ‘em here quickly), concise, to the point, and interesting. If your letter is more than 200 words, your chances diminish. If it’s shorter and still topical and interesting, you’ve got a good chance. Throw in a little wit, and you’ve got a better chance.
