How important are local concert reviews?

I was in Nashville, TN, earlier this month, where there were two nearly sold-out concerts, one featuring Keith Urban and the other featuring Stevie Wonder. Both got great reviews from writers at The Tennessean. I love music and other arts, but I’m too busy to attend many concerts. Still, I love to know what it might have been like had I attended.

At The Telegraph, we hire freelancers to review some Macon Symphony Orchestra performances, but we tend not to review pop or country acts, or local theater productions. The argument has been that it is more useful to preview events so that people can attend than to write a review that, because of our print deadlines, wouldn’t be published in the newspaper until a couple days after the event anyway.

The review of Urban’s Friday night concert appeared in Sunday’s edition of The Tennessean and the review of Stevie’s Saturday night concert appeared in Monday’s paper, so deadlines must be an issue at that paper, too. (Of course, newspaper Web sites would allow more immediate publication of reviews.)

One of the reasons The Telegraph has curtailed reviews is that it is hard to find reliable, experienced freelancers who are also good writers and critics. But that isn’t the only reason; it requires an editor’s attention to assign and manage a freelance rotation, and to edit the stories. That resource is now devoted to covering daily news stories, so I can't promise that we can add a lot of reviews to our workload.

Still, as we assess the content we are able to provide readers, we'd like to know what you think. Do you find reviews newsworthy, and would you like to see more? Was there a concert you attended that you believe readers also could have enjoyed vicariously? If we published more reviews, would it make you buy the paper or would you more likely look for the review online?

What about the events we do preview? Do you find the previews useful? Do we do enough? What would you change?


Up Next: Controversial photographs: Are there pictures we should not print?

Oprah visit a shot in the arm, or too much?

We’ve received three calls from a reader, who didn’t leave a phone number or other contact information, complaining that Oprah got too much attention before, during and after her visit to Macon and that, contrary to what the newspaper might think, the talk show host doesn’t walk on water.

From the perspective of a newspaper editor, I'd say we had a nice few days in Macon covering Oprah’s visit. It was just the kind of story readers periodically tell us they want to see more of. Positive. Energizing. Fun. In the end, Oprah’s visit was a story about somebody doing something nice for somebody else. From all accounts, Oprah and her crew were very gracious guests who delighted hundreds of people by stepping out on the town and engaging with the locals. Frankly, some of the video footage made me wince because some eager fans seemed to forget that it can be frightening to be rushed. Everybody wanted a piece of Oprah, and she gave as much as anyone could have expected.

Does she walk on water? Of course not. She’s human, and that humanity was on display in fine form for a few days in our fair city.

By the way, if you did not visit macon.com during the visit, you can still find plenty of content related to Oprah’s visit. The photo slide shows and the videos are terrific. My favorite is video of the unscripted encounter between Oprah and fans outside her hotel Friday morning. If you haven’t already, check it out.

Race, race go away?

A group of residents representing various churches met last Thursday night at Cherokee Heights United Methodist Church to talk about what some say are social injustices that result from racism. According to The Telegraph news report, the group wants to form a governing body that will be responsible for encouraging church forums and other town meetings to talk about such issues.

Tonight at the Douglass Theatre, the Center for Racial Understanding is hosting a community conversation about race. The discussion, which is set for 7-8:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by The Telegraph and WMAZ-TV. A point person for the event is Catherine Meeks, director of the Center for Community Engagement at Wesleyan College, who says such a dialogue is long overdue.

Among the panelists will be Meeks and mayor-elect Robert Reichert.

In discussing the forum with a friend this morning, he was skeptical. “What can anyone say about race that everybody doesn’t already know?” he asked.

How then, I responded, do you propose we tackle this thorny issue?

Neither of us had answers that satisfied the other.

Folks inside and outside the newsroom have told me for years that, in Macon, race is the elephant in the room. While an elephant is hard to miss, it is also hard to move.

Tonight’s gathering is intended to start a conversation that will continue, eventually, in small groups. Maybe that’s the best way to take a conversation about race beyond talk: In small, manageable pieces.

For more information about "A Conversation on Race," can call 478-757-3800. If you are unable to attend tonight’s forum, you can read about the event on macon.com are in Wednesday’s Telegraph.

What do readers know?

For years, journalists have been party to discussions about community journalism and reader participation. The theme of these discussions is that plenty of interesting things happen in our own back yards, that readers are interested in these events - and even willing to provide information about them - and that readers are more engaged with the newspaper when they believe they have a voice.

By now, newspapers have plenty of experience with “reader involvement,” “reader-generated content,” and “hyper-local” news. Much of this content appears on opinion pages, in sections targeted at specific groups, or on pages published on certain days of the weeks (such at The Telegraph’s Neighbors’ pages).

Still, the cost of newsprint and other costs associated with producing a paper have prevented the wide use of reader-submitted content as well as the wide distribution of hyper-local content that some readers say they want.

The growing popularity of news Web sites, however, has made newsprint costs almost a non-issue when it comes to finding a place for readers to have a voice. Chat rooms, discussions boards, blogs and commenting functions have led to a wave of reader participation.

The Telegraph believes readers want to engage in community conversations that are empowering, enlightening, engaging and helpful, though there are those for which this clearly is not always the case.

As of last week, The Telegraph requires registration for readers wishing to comment on local stories.

Of course, if you still want to talk to the editor, e-mail me, or call me at 478-744-4340.

Ditch Dear Abby?

A caller who didn¹t leave her name on my voice mail asked why we keep moving Dear Abby around in the paper, making the column hard to find. One day it¹s in the local section, she said, and the next day it might be in the sports section.

Why don't you just kill it, she suggested.

Dear Abby remains where she has for years: on the TV page. Our Page One index will always tell you where to find the TV page.

Still, the caller has a point. On one day a week, the TV page moves to a different section. Here's why:

The TV page appears in the Life & Style section Monday through Thursday and Saturday. On Friday, we publish the Out & About entertainment tab instead of a Life & Style section, so the TV page most often had appeared near the back of the Local & State section.

That¹s not always the case these days. The TV page sometimes ends up in the sports/business section.

The reason? In our effort to manage news print, we are less likely now than a year ago to increase the number of pages in the paper.

Stick with me.

Once upon a time, if the Local& State section filled up -- say, we sold more ads than normal, or more obits, leaving insufficient space for local and state news -- we¹d simply add two pages to the section. Because of how our presses run, if you add two pages to Local & State, you have to add two pages to another section. It doesn¹t matter whether you only need one page, you¹d be required to add four.

Today, we are much more likely to move content around to avoid adding pages. That means that on Fridays, we sometimes need to move the TV page -¬ with Abby -¬ to the sports section. Not ideal, but that¹s the way it works.

Again, the best way to find Abby is to look for the TV page listing in the Page One index.

Do newspapers care about old people?

I hoped the headline would catch your attention.


I spent part of last week in Warner Robins interviewing candidates for city council. When asked about their concerns, many of the candidates mentioned quality-of-life issues that affect senior citizens. Lack of transportation was the common theme, but I sensed a larger concern about how seniors fare in our youth-obsessed society. Ok, maybe having just marked another birthday made be particularly sensitive to the comments. The candidate interviews also took place just as I returned from “vacation,” much of it spent trying to figure out how to get good care for an elderly mom who wants to remain in her home, but whose modest income is increasingly used to pay for expensive prescription drugs.

I know I’m walking the path many, many others walk every day, but trying to navigate the maze of Medicare rules, requirements and restrictions has just about gotten the best of me.

Newspapers – and now Web sites - spend a lot of time courting young readers, but many of us do poor job writing about the lives of seniors or the issues that affect them and their caregivers. This is not sexy stuff, but it sure can hit home.

Health care is hardly the only topic pertinent to seniors and their families. What about transportation? How big a problem is it? An assortment of specialized senior housing has cropped up, but how many seniors can afford it? What about other aging issues? What is an 80-year-old’s social life like when her siblings and close friends have all died?

What stories are we not covering that would be of particular interest to older people, their families, friends and service providers?

Business coverage drought?

To “Anonymous,” who asked about the newspaper’s business coverage: The Telegraph has a business reporter in the Macon office, and it has a reporter in the Houston office who covers business and other topics. I wish we had third business reporter, but we work with what we have.

Reporter Linda Morris knows her way around the business community in Macon, but she has to prioritize her time. In Houston County, Wayne Crenshaw writes about growth and other business-related issues, but he also covers government meetings on occasion. Overall, we aim for daily business stories while trying to find time for longer enterprise and trend pieces. Linda is working on such a story now, but she has to work on that story even as she handles daily assignments.

We sometimes pull in other reporters to cover business. For instance, Heather Duncan, who writes about the environment as well as special projects, wrote a package of stories last year about the financial challenges facing the Medical Center of Central Georgia.

If you have a specific story you’d like to see us report, send it my way.



My Apologies

I was on vacation last week. I was out of the office much of this week with the editorial board interviewing political candidates. I should have posted a note that I would be on vacation. I had hoped to blog at least a few times while I was gone. No such luck.

That was last week. I’m back and waiting to hear from you.

Are TV books worth the paper they're printed on?

Increasingly, TV viewers here and elsewhere tell me they don’t use the TV guide provided in their newspaper, mostly because so much information is now accessible from their cable and satellite TV providers. Want to know what’s on at 7? Hit a button on your remote and there you have it on your TV screen.

Newspaper TV guides consume a ton of newsprint. Many newspapers, including The Telegraph, have trimmed back the guides over the years. When we’ve done so, most of us have heard howls of protest. Once upon a time, newspapers had the luxury of providing such guides whether readers used them or not. We are, after all, a mass medium. That luxury no longer exists.

Some folks might argue that if audience interest alone dictates what you put in newspapers, editors might have to eliminate a lot of content. A reasonable argument, but TV listings, like some other types of information – stocks come to mind – are not the kind of content that readers can get only in their local newspaper. A person interested in stock listings, for instance, can have the latest info about the companies he or she tracks delivered via email each day.

What complicates this issue for many editors is that some readers – many of them our older and most loyal customers - are not plugged into the internet. They have no interest in looking to the Web for their information, they’ve told me. They prefer the convenience of sitting with a TV book at their sides as they plan their viewing.

In an ideal world, we’d figure out how to deliver a really good TV book to the folks who want it, and stop delivering it to those who have no interest. The complexities of The Telegraph’s market – the sheer size of our delivery territory – makes that impractical right now, but other papers are trying this, along with other things, such as changing the publication day from Sunday to a day with less circulation, such as Friday.

The Telegraph’s latest change, made a few weeks ago with the introduction of our Leisure section, combines the TV listings with features content, but in such a way that the listings can be pulled out and kept all week long. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the most efficient way we could find for now.

What's with these comments?

The Telegraph allows comments on stories because we believe there are readers who have something to say that others might find enlightening or interesting. We expected some misuse of the comment feature, because editors at other newspapers that allow comments told us as much. The comment function at newspapers has prompted hateful, profane, racist, illogical and off-point posts. People write things to which they won't dare sign their names.

With comments, a newspaper is bound to get the good with the bad. The hope, of course, is that the good will outweigh the bad.

Still I have been disappointed, even discouraged, at the level of discourse in some cases.

A “report a violation” link in the comments section allows readers to alert us to offensive material. But because we don't have the staff to moderate the discussions, we're expecting soon to require registration for those who want to comment. It won't stop all the violations - anonymous commentators can be crafty -- but it should help.

Anonymity has its place. There are many wrongs that wouldn't have come to light without an anonymous tip or unsigned letter. But folks who make personal and often vicious attacks behind the shield of anonymity may need to find another medium through which to express themselves.
Of course, controversial comments will always be allowed. Our goal is not to stop the expression of unpopular views. Some comments will sting, or anger, but they may also prompt positive action or a solution.

The comment function on macon.com is really about creating a space that allows readers to have a conversation, or even a debate, about the people, events and issues we write about, and it’s about providing a forum in which readers can question how we report the news.

Those of you who are offering thoughtful, helpful, and interesting comments, as well as story ideas and even criticism, we hope you will not let your voices be silenced by those seeking to cause a distraction. That would be a sad commentary indeed.

We're so much more than a newspaper

Early in the spring, I told one of my online staffers I was ready to start a blog.

Things kept getting in the way. There were crises and heavy workloads and more crises. My initial draft blog entry, reviewed a couple months later, seemed dated.

So rather than wait for the perfect moment, or the perfect news story, here it is: my opportunity to tell you a little about how we do business at The Telegraph and your opportunity to tell me what you think about what you read – or don’t read – in the paper or on our Web site, macon.com.

Speaking of our macon.com, we’re spending a ton of energy on it these days. It has made life a lot more complex – and interesting. Our Web site is hardly new, but the urgency with which we produce content for it is. Gone are the days when a reporter or editor storms into my office protesting that a story that we believe is an exclusive shouldn't be posted to the Web.

“Why should we let other media steal our thunder,” the argument went. “We’re our own worst enemy,” was another common refrain.

These days, the Telegraph recognizes its audience is not just the person who expects the newspaper at his doorstep each morning, but the businesswoman or student who throughout the day wants to know what’s happening in Bibb, Houston and surrounding counties.

We’ve turned ourselves upside down to make sure these new readers are not disappointed. Inside the newsroom, it’s been a hard sell. Frankly, that’s because it’s more work, or at least different work. Reporters and photographers are now expected to file breaking news throughout the day. Some are shooting video and taking their own photos. With the web obligations satisfied, reporters then write a story for the next day’s newspaper, mindful of the need to provide more detail to keep the story fresh. Photographers edit their pictures, choosing one or two for the newspaper and a gallery of photos for the Web site.

I was a broadcast major in college, so I have a slight familiarity with newsgathering and delivery that emphasizes the visual. But for most of us in the newsroom, what we’ve learned about producing journalism for the Web has been seat-of-the-pants.

We’ll need to hold on to our britches because more change is afoot. Media companies across the country are experimenting with new forms of news delivery (from cell phones to e-mail alerts), embracing the delivery of other kinds of information (from entertainment news to a week’s worth of recipes), and embracing reader-provided content (from news stories to photos, video and blogs). At a multimedia session held at our newspaper this week, sponsored by the Georgia Associated Press, we got a look at what some other newspapers are creating: Prep football shows, Web sites for niche audiences, short video clips of regular folks telling their own stories, breaking news video and stories about events that a newspaper might once have ignored.

At the Telegraph multimedia reporter Liz Fabian produces a daily newscast that we post on our Web site each day, usually by 8 a.m. Liz’s day starts at 5 a.m., something that might be commonplace for TV stations and big newspapers with big staffs. But it’s a clear investment in our future and our readers’ habits of expecting news more immediately and more often. While her primary responsibility is to get the newscast up early, Liz now catches up with overnight news and gets a jump on early morning breaking news that we might have missed in the days when we had a reporter start at 8 or 8:30.

After she finishes her early morning work, Liz might be sent to shoot video to accompany another story, or she might take a few hours off so that she can come back to videotape a late afternoon or early evening assignment.

Liz isn’t the only one with her own Web show. Sports reporter Jonathan Heeter and features reporter Joe Kovac anchor a high school football show that we post each Wednesday. Liz also shoots a show for our Web site featuring local celeb Mark Ballard. During election season, we videotaped interviews with candidates seeking endorsement from the Telegraph Editorial Board, allowing readers to hear, unedited, everything the candidate had to say. Meanwhile, we continue to add staff-written blogs to our site, on topics ranging from parenting to movies to sports and politics.

None of this means we value the newspaper less; it simply means we recognize the importance of two primary audiences.

Our web site traffic is growing, significantly. To keep growing will require that we continue to report and break local news, maintain our watchdog role in reporting on city and county government, continue to investigate wrongdoing, and stay plugged into the community at all levels. These are the things good journalists have always done.

WANTED: YOUR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND STORY IDEAS

A lot of what appears in the Telegraph news pages and on macon.com is the result of tips from readers. More on that another day. Meanwhile, let me hear from you. You can post your comment on the blog or e-mail me at smarshall@macon.com.