Just as some people stop reading newspapers for specific reasons, including “no time to read,” others persist in reading newspapers for good reasons of their own.
Several Bee readers explained their passion for news and newspapers this past week. One said The Bee is “marvelous,” while another said it was “unsatisfactory.” Still others looked hard at how they feel about newspapers in general, and explained where the news fits into their busy lives.
“Reading the newspaper is a top priority to me,” Gary Miller of Sacramento said in an e-mail message. “I cannot go out of the house without reading the paper. It is the first thing I do in the morning. When the paper is not on my doorstep when I get up, my whole day gets jumbled. And then on those few days when it doesn’t arrive before I go to work … then I have to decide … do I go to work or wait till the paper arrives.
“But people don’t read anymore. They don’t seem to read anything any more….
“Where do they get their news? TV. God help us. No wonder we have so many brain-dead folks in this country.
“I am very concerned about our country when there are fewer and fewer people reading newspapers.”
Gloria Washburn Goforth focused on The Bee’s content, and she is happy with what she finds.
Reacting to a reader who felt The Bee should do more, Goforth said: “So you ain’t the New York Times. Or the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle or Los Angeles Times.
“But you give us one terrific newspaper. The editorial and op-ed pages are open and even-handed. Your arts and critical staff, Marcus Crowder, Joe Baltake, William Glackin, are reliable and lively. Your sports sections, with Mark Kreidler, Ailene Voisin and this new guy, (Marcos) Breton, are close to Red Smith/Jim Murray class.
“The Bee is well enough written and sufficiently concise to provide large quantities of information without consuming huge amounts of time. My father, the press agent Charlie Washburn, encouraged us to read several newspapers, so maybe I’m a fast reader. I’m truly grateful to see The Bee on my doorstep every morning.”
Reviewing the reasons
Reader Larry Johnson looked at the newspapers around him and reviewed why he reads newspapers.
“I decided newspapers excel in local/regional news and related information — such as shopping. Here in San Joaquin County, I find the Stockton Record admirable and seems to be improving. I find the Lodi paper to be a very good paper considering its competition from bigger neighbors.
“I give newspapers high marks for entertainment — I am a fan of the comics.
“For useful information, I most often use the Internet … because for me it is easy and very convenient. Also you cannot beat the Internet for quick research and additional resources. I give Sacbee and my local newspaper, the Lodi News Sentinel, high marks for this….
“I find broadcast media almost useless for any of the categories, although I often watch the local news while busy in the kitchen in the evening….
“When it comes to thought provoking, nothing beats the Sunday papers and magazines. I give high marks to The Sacramento Bee although I think the New York Times is better. I am a moderate conservative, but the notable liberal leaning often seen in these papers doesn’t bother me.
“With newspapers and with the Internet, I particularly like the ability to quickly go to another item when the item is overburdened with emotional appeals or weak on information.”
Major/minor annoyances
Johnson also mentioned a few things that annoy him including, “Self-promotional hoopla excessive advertising on broadcast media….
“Major annoyances … any journalistic item too light on facts or facts that are unhelpful….
“Minor ones … production quality and delivery in newspapers — comes and goes. And last — dropping of ‘Shoe’ from The Bee comics….”
One reader called and left a brief message with the customer service desk: “Marvelous newspaper. Don’t change it.”
But other readers were more critical.
Mary Bisharat wrote, “I am responding to your article … which mentioned the reader from Dixon who was abandoning The Bee because he had no time. I could have written the same views, but unlike him, I DO have time to read The Bee.
“I want to say there is less and less nutrition/information in it for my mind, so it takes less and less time. In fact, I feel strangely dysphoric after spending my allotted early morning time with The Bee, my home-grown grapefruit and much-relished espresso. It’s how you feel when you’ve had a sub-par meal: You’ve eaten, but it didn’t satisfy. My discontent has led me to think of getting an additional morning paper — the Chronicle, or perhaps the New York Times …. I have not decided what I will do.”
And Charles Sano, of West Sacramento, thinks The Bee needs improvement. “I feel that the Latin population is being ignored by your newspaper … the Latino perspective is invisible….”
When the phone didn’t ring
One of The Bee’s persistent critics, a very careful reader, recently stopped calling our office.
Curtis Lingo was particularly good at asking why reporters did not probe deeply or ask tougher questions, and he insisted the newspaper should be less trusting about what government officials had to say.
He was skeptical of government and critical of what he thought was lazy reporting. He wanted to know exactly where the money went, what government officials did. He was often not satisfied with the effort he saw, and urged editors to be tougher and reporters to provide more information. He also was persistently courteous, though sometimes a tad argumentative.
I suspect that some reporters and editors thought of those frequent questioning phone calls as a nuisance. I am certain he irritated public officials as well as some journalists with his persistence.
I believe he served The Bee well as a reader who demanded his newspaper serve as a watchdog and who demanded quality performance from agencies and institutions that exist to serve the public. And he laughed a lot during our conversations.
“I know. I know,” he said a few months ago in his I’m-giving-up tone of voice. “You are tired of hearing from me.”
Not so.
When I checked on him this past week, I discovered a disconnected telephone and a funeral notice that had been published in June. Curtis Lingo died May 28 in Sacramento.
One of his accomplishments was not noted in the funeral notice. He helped keep this newspaper on its toes by demanding quality performance.
