What to leave in, what to leave out
One of the toughest things we face is managing the daily tidal wave of information — everything from telephone calls, office visits and e-mails to press releases, government meetings and trial coverage. The police scanner is the newsroom’s background music; we’re on Outlook and TweetDeck all the time.
I’d like to believe we’re able to get the most relevant information in print and online every single time we tackle a story. That’s why I was astounded by the Time magazine story, “The Fort Hood Report: Why No Mention of Islam?” about the military’s report on the Fort Hood shootings.
Time takes issue with the fact that the report didn’t specifically name Maj. Nidal Hasan or explore how the killings may have been related to Hasan’s Muslim faith. Those seem like remarkable omissions, given everything we’ve learned about those shootings over the past few months.
Just as the Time story challenges the military’s report, I like the idea of our readers challenging our coverage of the stories that matter to the Dan River Region. Staff-written stories in the Danville Register & Bee include the reporter’s byline, their telephone number and their e-mail address. The purpose of printing that information every day with every story is that we want our readers to contact our reporters.
If you read a story that you believe leaves out important information, feel free to call or e-mail the reporter who wrote the story. They will be glad to speak with you, and if they’re not, then speak with me.
Posted by Robert Benson at 09:31 PM. Filed under: benson_main •
(0) Comments • Permalink
