Reporter Bill Geroux received more than 300 of them. They’re still arriving.
For nigh onto 10 years as news ombudsman, I’ve been dealing with complaints about the news articles and pictures published in The Times-Dispatch. I also get complaints about delivery, ink ruboff, advertising, editorial pages, billing and even about what’s shown on television, but all that is outside my bailiwick.
Many readers, though, have been kind enough to shower compliments on reporters and editors here. As the new year begins, I thought a new approach would be to share some of those compliments with you.
My invitation to each member of the news staff to send me a copy of a compliment that was especially appreciated brought more than 50 replies.
Geroux, a Virginia News Department reporter based in Norfolk, couldn’t decide on just one.
His stories in June 2000 and again last June about Bedford’s World War II casualties on D-Day brought “more than 300 e-mails and letters,” he said. “I still get calls about them from time to time as people show the stories around.”
On the day he responded to my invitation, he just had received another compliment on the stories from a lawyer in Alabama. “Many of the responses are from veterans, but they’ve come from all kinds of people and – thanks to the Internet – from as far away as England and France.”
Interacting with the news staff has become easier for readers with the addition of e-mail addresses and phone numbers to reporters’ articles. Thank-yous have arrived for news coverage, feature articles, columns, illustrations and photographs. Pleased recipients mostly have kept the compliments modestly to themselves.
Samples follow (I’ve edited and compressed the comments):
To Peter Bacque: “You packed a lot of accurate information into a few column inches.” (Mark Smith of Fort Lee on an article about the mobilization of Green Berets with the Virginia Army National Guard.)
To P. Kevin Morley: In an e-mail, Mike Gorham of Chicago said his wife “fell in love” with Morley’s photo of Daisy the chimpanzee eyeing Marley, a curious Labrador puppy, at the annual blessing of the animals in Shockoe Slip. She had seen the photo reproduced in the Chicago Tribune, and Gorham said he just HAD to get a print for his wife. Morley obliged.
To Lea A. Setegn: In a phone call, a woman said a story about the breakfast program for homeless and low-income people really touched her. What touched Setegn was that the woman “picked up the phone and called. Pretty incredible.”
To Clarke A. Bustard: “Your knowledge of music is remarkable and in a league of its own. . . . In my opinion, you are one of the best – if not the best – writers on the Times-Dispatch staff.” (Mrs. H. F. Robertson of Petersburg.)
To Stacy L. Adams: “I look forward to your column every week. You have the ability to telescope the ‘soul’ of your thoughts to your reader. Your December 1 column . . . really helped to frame the meaning of Christmas in a year that has so dramatically changed our lives.” (Dr. Catherine D. Nolte in an e-mail.)
To Peter Hardin: “It is a damn fine piece. . . . You do good work bringing history into journalism.” (Jim Hershman, a Georgetown University professor, one of many sending e-mails praising an article on an experiment conducted during World War II when inmates at the Lynchburg State Colony were inoculated with tainted yellow fever vaccine.)
To Carlos Santos: “Thanks for taking me back to some wonderful memories when life was much simpler.” (Ron Paquette of Chesterfield in appreciation of the story describing the fun in searching for and cutting of the perfect “wild Christmas tree.”)
To Michael Hardy et al: “It’s the most comprehensive presentation of any newspaper and focused on pocketbook issues and concerns of Virginians.” (An official in Gov. Gilmore’s administration on last Sunday’s General Assembly preview section that also included bylines of Jeff Schapiro, Tyler Whitley, Pamela Stallsmith, Rex Bowman, Paul Bradley, Will Jones, Tammie Smith, Rex Springston and Greg Edwards.)
To Cynthia McMullen: “Wow, I don’t have the words to thank you! I had hundreds of people (cars) tonight because of the article. Lucky also was visited by five or six dogs who wanted to meet him.” (Bev Edmonds of Henrico County commenting on an article about his “tacky tour” home decorations which included his illuminated “Christmas dog,” Lucky.)
To Mike Harris: “Terrific job with the Monroe article. . . . Sheds some light on a good young man given a second chance.” (Radio’s Morris “Big Cat” Skeen on a story about Virginia Tech defensive lineman Derrius Monroe, who turned his life around after being arrested in a drug investigation. )
To Carol Hazard: “What I liked about your story is that it did such a good job of explaining the limited partnership. Without that knowledge, it would have been like writing about a football game and just telling the score. It is the individual play that makes a football game great.” (George Love, CPA, on an article exploring the financing of the Richmond Marriott Hotel.)
To Monica Ragland-Pruitt: “I am a subscriber to the Sunday edition mainly because of the wedding announcements. Never before in any city have I seen such a large number of announcements and such great attention to detail.” (Brenda Baratto in an e-mail to the bridal editor.)
To A.J. Hostetler: “Your . . . article on mice and genes was quite interesting. I would like to copy it for use in my contemporary issues class here at Ohio State.” (Professor C. R. Curtis of Ohio State University asking permission to reproduce Hostetler’s article.)
To Paige Akin: “That was excellent writing. I had goose bumps. I think it’s rare to have such quality in a daily paper.” (A thank-you from Mary Nissen, sent to editor Karin Kapsidelis, for Akin’s New Year’s Day column on the death of a friend in an alcohol-related car crash.)
To Jann Malone: “Your columns have meant a lot to me over the years. The columns on appreciating the little miracles in life every day, the constant struggle of decluttering and procrastination and the desire to make life less stressful and complicated all resonated with my personal goals.” (Sandra Thurston to the Flair columnist.)
Next week: More kudos, and the identity of the reporter “with the soul of a poet” is revealed.
