http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/02/26/todays-thought-newspapers-need-readers/ Thoughts from a technologist and journalist Wed, 09 May 2012 14:41:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/2008/02/26/todays-thought-newspapers-need-readers/comment-page-1/#comment-2411 Ginny Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:07:40 +0000 http://patthorntonfiles.com/blog/?p=189#comment-2411 Maybe I'm fortunate to have only worked for newspapers that DO NOT subscribe to this philosophy: "It’s journalism that journalists want to cover because they enjoy it or because they believe it is news." The newspaper reporters I've worked with absolutely keep their readers in mind when they decide what stories to budget for the week. But by the very virtue of being watchdogs, that sometimes mean covering stories that aren't super sexy but need to become a part of the public record. It's how you approach those types of stories that separates a good reporter/writer from a mediocre one. You've got to find a way to relate stories back to people's lives...to show readers, for example, why a no-bid government contract impacts their lives. I think it's short-sighted to say: "Many journalists are loathe to care about what readers/users want to read and consume." That's a sweeping statement that I do not believe applies to "many journalists." We don't sit at our computers every day and think: "hmmmm, this is really interesting to me, I don't really think it is to anyone else, but I'm going to write about it anyway." Maybe I’m fortunate to have only worked for newspapers that DO NOT subscribe to this philosophy: “It’s journalism that journalists want to cover because they enjoy it or because they believe it is news.” The newspaper reporters I’ve worked with absolutely keep their readers in mind when they decide what stories to budget for the week. But by the very virtue of being watchdogs, that sometimes mean covering stories that aren’t super sexy but need to become a part of the public record. It’s how you approach those types of stories that separates a good reporter/writer from a mediocre one. You’ve got to find a way to relate stories back to people’s lives…to show readers, for example, why a no-bid government contract impacts their lives. I think it’s short-sighted to say: “Many journalists are loathe to care about what readers/users want to read and consume.” That’s a sweeping statement that I do not believe applies to “many journalists.” We don’t sit at our computers every day and think: “hmmmm, this is really interesting to me, I don’t really think it is to anyone else, but I’m going to write about it anyway.”

]]>