Newspapers are produced in what must be the most gigantic room in the world: the room for improvement.
That’s what some readers in Phoenix suggest, anyway.
They say the same thing in San Diego, Sacramento and Louisville. And Rio, Paris and London. Even in Istanbul.
So report the newspaper ombudsmen who, like me, listen to the concerns of both loyal and occasional readers.
We hear remarkably similar concerns about journalism. Here are the leading complaints, according to a non-scientific survey of 44 members of the Organization of News Ombudsmen.
“We’re too far left, too far right, anti-Black, anti-White, anti-Jewish, anti-Palestinian, anti-Republican, anti-Democrat, anti-Catholic, anti-Protestant, anti-Muslim, anti-heterosexual, anti-homosexual, anti-Yankees, anti-Mets,” observed Meryl Harris, reader services editor at the Journal News in White Plains, N.Y.
Her observation rings true in Phoenix, though many people read stories through the prism of their own prejudices. That’s how The Arizona Republic can be, depending on the observer, anti-Jerry Colangelo or pro-Colangelo, anti-John McCain or pro-McCain.
What disturbs me more is an issue several longtime sources have raised in recent years. They say they are contacted more often these days not for their expertise, but to supply quotes on a story already written in the reporter’s mind. The reporter is merely shopping for the one quote that will substantiate a preconceived notion.
So, wherever you might travel this summer, from Ireland to Latin America, pick up a newspaper.
You’ll feel right at home.
