Reader's Representative
Small errors can turn into bigger ones later
Readers often remind me that one of the journalist’s biggest responsibilities is not to repeat information in error, even if “everybody” gets it wrong.
MORE NEWS
-
'Cowtown' label adds to Kansas City's 'self-esteem issue'
May 29, 9:12 PMTwice recently, readers have raised an objection that I’ve heard often through the years: They wish The Star would not refer to Kansas City as “Cowtown.”
-
New 'Top 5' lists still frustrating to some readers
May 15, 7:50 PMMany readers have criticized the “Top 5” lists in recent years. As I’ve noted in the past, the lists were originally conceived as part of the paper’s 2006 redesign.
-
Journalists should be careful with charges of racism
May 1, 8:13 PMOver the past few weeks, readers have raised several questions of how The Kansas City Star writes about race and ethnicity, in connection with various subjects. I think each of them needs to be examined carefully on its own merits. On April 10, hundreds of young people, mostly teens and mostly black, gathered on the Country Club Plaza, and trouble ensued. A report the next morning recounted fights, a strong-arm robbery, property damage, police helicopters and — most serious of all — one person with a head injury sustained in the parking lot outside Winstead’s restaurant.
-
Choice of words is no insignificant matter to readers
Apr 17, 9:33 PMWords matter a lot in the business of journalism and writing. It’s rare that a day goes by without a reader pointing out a shade of nuance, an imprecise synonym, or sometimes even an outright misuse of language. Several e-mailers contacted me last week about the April 11 “Final Chapter” obituary of Morris Jepson, who flew on the Enola Gay and helped arm the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima. While the readers said they appreciated the notice about Jepson’s death, they took exception strongly to the item’s reference to the Enola Gay as “the infamous B-29 bomber.”
-
Readers want more about protests they agree with, less on the other side
Mar 27, 7:40 PMOn the TV pundits’ shows, they’re omnipresent: crowds of hundreds, even thousands of protesters making their voices heard as they march on Washington D.C. And many readers have told me they felt The Kansas City Star has been dismissive of the picketers’ concerns.
-
'Quit' and 'stepped down' — close, but not synonymous
Mar 14, 10:22 PMReaders pay extremely close attention to journalists’ choice of words. They often remind me that there’s a world of difference between almost-synonyms such as “confess” versus “disclose,” “happy” versus “joyful.” Sister Mary Laura Huddleston, chaplain and archivist of the American Royal, phoned me last Thursday with her concerns over a story in that morning’s Kansas City Star on Page A6. The item was about an announcement that Jim McNair has resigned as president and CEO of the American Royal Association, under the headline “American Royal’s president quits.”
-
Some readers found kidnapping gone awry no laughing matter
Feb 27, 8:27 PMStories of criminal escapades gone awry can sometimes hold great appeal, especially when the perpetrators actions are unintentionally humorous — at least after the fact. An article on the front page of the Feb. 22 Kansas City Star told just such a tale, involving kidnappers foiled in part by a case of mistaken identity. “The whole cross-country caper is pretty funny,” said the story, likening it to something the Coen brothers might turn into a film. A New Jersey detective quoted in the piece called the plot “comical and scary.”
-
When public figures misstate the truth, journalists need to be careful in repeating it
Feb 13, 10:31 PMA caller last week told me he thought The Kansas City Star was “letting a politician spread misinformation” by printing something she said that was factually incorrect. He was referring to a Feb. 8 story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s speech at a “tea party” convention in Nashville, Tenn.
-
Noting 'non-standard' English troubles some readers
Jan 30, 8:07 PMReaders tell me often that they think The Kansas City Star should avoid slang, jargon, abbreviations and — most of all — improper English in reporting the news. Most of the time, I’m with them. I think that’s especially true when it comes to neologism and terminology unique to certain professions. The average reader doesn’t know the meaning of a restaurant being “in the weeds” (extremely busy) or the job of a “74 Delta” (a military chemical operations specialist). Keep things simple and direct, people tell me.
-
Every reader doesn’t read every story, so ongoing issues deserve repeat coverage
Jan 16, 7:38 PMReaders of The Kansas City Star send me literally hundreds of suggestions for topics they think the paper should cover. A lot of them result in good, useful news stories — and many of them turn up repeatedly. Last Thursday, e-mailer Peter Gillespie had a concern I’ve heard at least three times in the past month alone:
-
Readers’ views on The Star varied widely in 2009
Jan 2, 7:53 PMLast Monday, a caller asked me a familiar question: “Since you hear all these different opinions, what’s the comment you got the most in 2009?” I know this might sound like a cop-out, but there’s no way I can identify a single issue, be it complaint or compliment. Readers look to The Kansas City Star for a huge variety of reasons, and their perceptions of how the paper delivers tend to follow their personal interests first and foremost. Nothing wrong with that, by the way. Frankly, I’m most interested in political junkies’ views on state house coverage, or what avid cooks think about the recipes and food columns. I tend to find the greatest insight from people with a specialist’s attention.
-
Readers’ Representative | Should The Star reflect or influence readers’ opinions?
Dec 19, 7:45 PMAn e-mailer asked a complex, but worthy question last week: “What percent of (The Kansas City Star’s) effort is toward reflecting your readers’ opinions, versus what is toward influencing their opinions?” He further clarified that he was referring to not just labeled opinion pieces in the paper, but “the actual selection of news items to cover, as well as how those items are covered.”
-
Focus on Squitiro, City Hall looks like bias to some
Dec 5, 9:06 PMReaders remind me often that journalists’ choice of subject matter can look like bias, even before the story is written. “I have to say I think (The Kansas City Star) usually plays it down the middle when you’re writing about politicians and what they say,” said a caller this past week, “but I think you need to take a look at what you’re asking the people you interview to talk about. If you put an article in the paper saying, ‘This is a problem that needs to be looked at,’ that’s The Star actually kind of editorializing. You’re presenting something as a problem, and I might not agree it is one.”
-
Palin’s place on the front page?
Nov 21, 7:44 PM“Sarah Palin on my front page — again?” asked a caller shortly after the Nov. 14 paper. “Are you guys really serious, and are you going to jam her down our throats again?” “Here’s The Star jumping on the ‘make fun of Sarah Palin’ bandwagon again,” said another later that same morning. “You can’t just let her say her piece without having to quote some expert saying she has a ‘preparation problem.’ You always have to add that editorializing.”
-
Don’t make offensive words egregious, say readers
Oct 31, 9:04 PMOver the past week, I’ve heard a lot of opinion from readers about The Kansas City Star’s coverage of Chiefs running back Larry Johnson telling reporters to “Get your faggot ass out of here,” and writing on Twitter that another user had a “fag pic” in a profile. “I am so disappointed yet again with your reporting,” wrote Jana Mathis. “It isn’t any different for your reporter to repeat it than it is for Larry to say it in the first place. … Two wrongs don’t make a right!”
-
Newspapers need to explain news/opinion division
Oct 17, 10:55 PMThe separation between news and opinion should be clear. And I know full well from my interaction with hundreds of smart, well-informed readers that newspapers don’t always do a good enough job explaining the difference.
-
‘Teen,’ ‘adult’ neither exclusive nor synonymous
Oct 10, 7:27 PM“Quit talking about politics all the time,” said the caller. “Both sides are always going to say this or that isn’t fair, because they’re just looking to be offended. What about the non-political stuff?” I hear plenty of that, too.
-
Journalists shouldn’t let politics set the tone for news judgment
Sep 26, 9:10 PMEvery president encounters vehement criticism — but some readers think The Kansas City Star has let politicking trump news judgment in recent weeks. A story on Wednesday’s Page A1, under the headline “24/7 Obama fills airwaves and beyond,” looked at some critics’ charge that the president’s appearances in many different media outlets has rendered his message “diluted,” in the words of one person.
-
News about the Van Jones controversy appeared after the story was already over
Sep 12, 8:21 PM“Wouldn’t it be nice to be ahead of the curve, instead of behind it?” asked the voice at the other end of my phone line. “The talk shows were already over Van Jones before The Kansas City Star finally said he was gone.” That was the dominant theme last week among readers contacting me. President Barack Obama’s “green jobs czar” resigned last weekend after a barrage of criticism over some of his past actions and statements. His departure got the No. 1 spot in the Sept. 6 “Today’s Top 5” list, and a longer story ran the next day — but the pressure leading up to it didn’t appear in The Star.
-
News of Kennedy's death hit a bad time for print
Aug 29, 8:43 PMWhen Massachusetts’ long-serving Sen. Ted Kennedy died late last Tuesday night, the news could scarcely have hit at a worse time for morning newspapers. “Shame on you for belittling the historical importance of the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy (one of the greatest statesmen this country has ever known) by burying that story on the third page,” wrote one of many who contacted The Kansas City Star Wednesday. “Do you truly believe “Leash Laws” (a story about dog parks in the Kansas City area) is that news worthy to make a front page story, particularly superseding the passing of a great historical figure?”
-
Readers’ representative | Readers want watchdog coverage of the health care debate
Aug 16, 12:22 AMReaders tell me consistently that they want The Kansas City Star to pay special attention to its role as government watchdog. Today, both sides of the aisle are demanding close coverage of the debate over proposed health care legislation currently in Congress. And it’s obviously no secret that some passions are running awfully high. The news has been full of stories of anger bubbling over at town hall meetings convened by members of Congress. An example ran on Page A-1 in The Star on Aug. 8, but it gave the impression that six arrested at a St. Louis meeting were all opponents of reforming the system — but that wasn’t the case. One arrestee was a reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and at least some of the other five were attending in support of reform. A correction on the 11th made that distinction.
-
Readers have conflicting opinions on how to report the Obama birth certificate non-story
Aug 1, 10:54 PM“WHY IS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AFRAID TO REPORT THIS?” asked a breathless e-mail I received recently. It warned that the health care bill currently in Congress would require counseling on assisted suicide for all senior citizens. Shocking stuff, to be certain — and also completely wrong.
-
Some readers think writing about Gloria Squitiro’s diaries was an invasion of privacy
Jul 18, 8:36 PMThroughout Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s administration, I’ve heard a slow but steady drumbeat of criticism from readers who think The Kansas City Star has treated the mayor unfairly from his first day in office. “I remember (The Star’s editorial board) endorsed Funkhouser in 2007, but why have you been on his back the entire time since he got elected?” asked a reader last Thursday. “I really don’t understand why you’re making such a huge deal out of his wife’s diaries. Get off it!”
-
'Celebrations' ads reflect all types of occasions
Jul 4, 8:28 PMIt’s time for a little roundup of items that lie outside my normal purview in the newsroom.
-
Popularity not the only consideration in comics
Jun 27, 9:24 PMI confess: I’m a coward when it comes to writing about the lineup of comic strips that run in The Kansas City Star. It’s really not that I’m afraid to wade into topics that get readers worked up (and trust me, the funnies do). I simply know there’s no chance I can represent the unfathomably wide variety of opinions fairly.
-
‘Militant’ and ‘vigilante’: Loaded with connotations
Nov 9, 2:57 PMThe Kansas City Star first reported that Kansas City park board member Frances Semler is a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps on June 12. Since then I’ve heard a consistent stream of reader comment about the controversy.
