Do you read your newspaper?

Our paper is printed 10 miles away from the newsroom, so we never SEE a newspaper before we go home.

 

I almost don't believe you, but just in case....you don't want to see how your story/team/sport is played in the section? If they're shoving you on the bottom of page 7, or splashing your coverage with big pretty pictures?

 

I think most veteran writers have a sense of place proportion on where their stuff should go. If it's a big game/signing/breaking news, it's probably going to get decent play. If it's a midweek feature or a nothing game between two losing teams late in the season, it's probably going inside or will be downplayed.

I think writers who go and bitch at the desk to get their stories played up are morons. Have a cup of perspective folks, and shut the hell up.

Back on topic, I read the paper to see what everybody else is doing. You work with these people, it's a good idea to figure out who the "studs" to borrow a phrase are in the other sections.

The irony is, of course, that most of the news writers could give a crap about the sports section. It always used to bother me when other writers would come up occasionally and say "hey, good story, since when have you been covering (insert wherever I got thrown the day before). It's not that I don't appreciate the compliment, but it's like, "Um, I've been working here six years."

 

Our readers read our newspaper. That sounds obvious, but think about it -- everyone who buys the thing reads at least some of it, is interested in the world around them, is interested to the point that TV and radio aren't enough for them, and is interested enough that they pay for it. A lot of people can say they care about knowing what's going on, but our readers prove it every day by paying to read about it. There are a lot of idiots out there, but for the most part our readers aren't among them.

And then there's a percentage of the newsroom staff that doesn't read the paper. They obviously don't care what's happening in their town, but worse, they do not KNOW what's happening in their town because they don't read about it.

So what we have is a situation in which some of the people producing the newspaper are less informed and less engaged than their customers. When we're less informed than they are, when we're less connected than they are, when we have less curiousity about the world than they do, what can we possibly offer that's worth their time and money? We wonder why newspapers struggle. Well, I think this is a big part of it.

 

I don't think anyone was suggesting you read the paper so you have a basis for complaining.

But if you contribute to a product, no matter what it is, most people like to see how it turns out...if for no other reason than to see what your customers are ultimately receiving.

 

You know, when I was in print, I still always got satisfaction of seeing my work in finished form. Wouldn't have thought about not seeing the paper in those days.

 

I always read the paper since it's what I've done my whole life. I don't read every story but I look at every page and read what I want to read, just as I've always done. Of course, now I have a more critical eye but I still try to read the paper as I did when I was just a reader.

 

I'll look at the sports sections, but I spend more time reading stuff on my paper's website than I do from the actual paper.

 

Now, one of the better writers I ever worked with, Erik Brady at USA Today, said he never looked at his stuff after it was printed to avoid the aggravation.

I always thought he was exaggerating about that, but you never know ...

 

i skim ours but read the competition, just to see if they had the same stories and what kind of angle they took and ran with. i'll glance 1A, metro and lifestyle and read the columnists in sports. all this is at work. on my days off,i have to admit that reading the paper is last thing on my to do list. (i do look at the website) i feel its the onloy way i can truly recharge my batteries before going back for another round.

 

Every. Damn. Day.

First thing in the AM. I don't completely read every story, but many of them, except the food and entertainment sections, which I don't care one iota about. But I even peruse the classifieds and the legals, and have found some nuggets in there that pertain to my job.