Journalism at UMD

Many thanks to Juli Parrish for taking a turn in the Public Editor's chair last week. We have more guest editors on the calendar for coming weeks.

Here are my comments on the 10/29/08 UMD Statesman.

-Chris Julin

THINGS I LIKE

Lots of news

The election is leading the news these days, unavoidably, but there's plenty of other news out there. This week's Statesman does a good job of striking a balance.

The news section includes stories about the state legislative races in Duluth, a Hillary Clinton visit to the Iron Range, and the student-run debate on campus, but readers find lots more: the city's "300-foot rule," wind energy, a sizable drug bust on campus, and a visit by a nationally-known speaker on race. That's a smart and reasonable blend of stories.

Heads and pre-heads are cool

The pre-headlines on the sports page are helpful. I like knowing at a glance that this is a piece about women's hockey. It's a great example of how a well-thought-out use of headlines, sub-headlines and pre-headlines make a paper more readable. On that note, I still wish letters to the editor got headlines instead of just the writers' names. Every time I turn to the Opinion page I find myself doing a quick scan of each letter to see what it's about and then running back to the top to start actually reading. A headline would help me out.

Quote of the week

Dave Buckner rolls out a great quotation in his story about the 300-foot rule. He gives us Jay Fosle, a member of the city council, explaining his opposition to the rule that new rental properties must be at least 300 feet apart.

"It's communistic ways that we're telling people what they can and cannot do with their home that they bought and paid for," said Fosle. "This needs to go. It's not right for our community."

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Helpful background

In that very same story there's a small hole that could use filling: What is the 300-foot rule?

It's easy, and understandable, for reporters and editors to forget that readers don't have all the background on a story – especially a story like this one that's been in the news repeatedly for months and months. Some readers are new to the story, though. Or they've forgotten the details. I'd like to see at least one paragraph that spells out plainly what it is these people are arguing about.

Informing the electorate – or not

I don't suppose there's anything more fundamental to journalism in a democratic society than helping citizens make informed choices at the polls. So I applaud the Statesman for its efforts over the past few issues to give readers useful information about the coming election.

In that spirit, I was glad to see a story about state legislative races. The problem is that the story is inaccurate – irresponsible, even.

It's difficult to tell at a glance who's running for what, and there's no indication anywhere who these candidates represent. Where's District 8A? (Way the heck outside of Duluth, as it turns out, and very few UMD students live there.)

Meanwhile, there's no mention of District 7A where most UMD students live. But District 5B, which is mostly on the Iron Range, gets included.

Worse yet, there are mistakes.

Ryan Stauber is not running in 7B. He's running in 7A. District 7B candidates include Allan Kehr and Jay Cole, who didn't even get mentioned.

The information here is also unintentionally misleading.

Using "Rep." to stand for Republican is confusing. Associated Press uses "Rep." to mean "Representative" – a member of the House of Representatives. In District 5B, for example, the Statesman says "Rep. John Larson is running…." That sounds as if Larson is the incumbent, since he's called "Rep(resentative?) John Larson."

In reality, Tony Sertich is the incumbent. He's served four terms. John Larson has never held any elected office, but since there's no mention of who currently holds the office it sounds as though Larson is the incumbent and Sertich is the challenger. In fact, there's no way to tell here who currently holds any of these offices or if any of these candidates have ever been elected to any office at all.

It's also unfair and misleading to list only some of the candidates.

For example, in District 6B there's no mention of Mary Murphy, who has represented that district for 31 years and is running for re-election. Only her opponent is listed. Similarly, in District 8A there's no mention of Bill Hilty who has been the House member from that district for six terms. And in 7B, which I already discussed, only Roger Reinert appears. The article skips his two opponents while mistakenly including a candidate from another district. And, once again, District 7A – the district that UMD is in – gets left out entirely.

The little disclaimer at the end doesn't get the Statesman off the hook: "Not all candidates running for state offices have created their own Web pages." The paper needed to do more than a Google search to prepare this story. The Statesman abdicated its responsibility to readers by presenting incomplete and inaccurate information.

Posted by Chris at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comments on 10/22 issue of The Statesman

This week we are lucky to have a guest Public Editor. Juli Parrish, a professor in UMD's Writing Studies Department, offers these thoughts on the current issue of the paper.

I should acknowledge from the outset that I am not a journalist. I do not teach journalism. And it’s been almost twenty years since I wrote the column “Parrish the Thought� in my high school newspaper. I approached this week’s issue of The Statesman, then, as a reader who is fascinated by minutiae.

Scare Quotes: Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are
I was glad to see Emily Haavik’s article on Coming Out Week, but I thought that the scare quotes might actually belong around the word “support�: UMD is a top-ranking GLBT-friendly university, but only 10 people attend a panel discussion? Is this a potential story-within-the-story? Or is it the miscreants ripping down posters around campus (emphasized with quotes in two separate articles)? What’s the “real� story here?

Unfortunate Juxtapositions?
Are the juxtapositions of images and articles on pages 5 and 22 deliberate or accidental? I’m not sure, but I can’t help but notice that they both involve references to women and their bodies. The side-by-side positioning of the wedding ring advertisement with the continuation of the domestic violence article on page 5 gave me pause. But it was the later juxtaposition that shocked me; the unfortunate positioning of the right-hand photograph has actor Scott Mallace looking sideways at the bra-clad chest in the breast cancer photo. The article itself acknowledges the potential objectification of the breast image in question, and I’m not even going to get into the unfortunate euphemism that suggests itself when you consider the title of the play.

Want to Become Homeless? Then Attend This Lecture!
I appreciated David Buckner’s coverage of the panel presentation on homelessness, but I was stymied by the preview on the cover. I couldn’t reconcile the photo of the swanky new LSBE classroom with the title announcing a fight against homelessness. But it was the last phrase: “UMD students and faculty learn that becoming homeless is easier than they think� that really challenged me. This is the kind of ambiguity in headlines that you see on The Tonight Show.

Attention to Style is Desired
I don’t remember recommendations about using passive constructions from my own journalism days, but I would love to see writers working to punch up their sentences with active constructions. Not all passives are bad, of course; in Megan Buttler’s article on CAC, the people taking down posters aren’t known. Clearly, what’s important here is that the posters are being taken down, not who is doing it. But in a number of other places, writers could easily edit for punchier sentences. Let me offer a few examples:

Original: At the Bowling for Boobs event, a raffle prize drawing will take place and t-shirts will be sold for $10.

Revision: The Bowling for Boobs event will feature a raffle prize drawing and offer t-shirts for $10.

Sara Jochems’ article on the senatorial debate makes good use of active constructions: share the wealth.

“Quotations,� she said, “are a great way to end an article.�
I enjoyed the variety of news coverage in this issue, and it seemed to me that writers took note of Hatcher’s and Julin’s comments in earlier Public Editor posts about strengthening leads. Conclusions are an obvious next place to look; five of seven news articles ended with a quotation. “What,� I ask, “are some other options?�

-Juli Parrish

Posted by Chris at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are my comments on the 10/15/08 issue.

I've given the editor-in-chief a hard copy of the paper with more-detailed remarks.

-Chris Julin

THINGS I LIKE

News

The front page continues to look professional and eye-catching. This week there's more news on the front, which pleases me as a reader.

The news section has lots of solid material. The Coleman-Franken-Barkley debate preliminary is a great idea. It would be helpful to spell out the conditions – "We asked the same five questions of all three candidates," that sort of thing – at the top of the spread. But the information itself is well presented and useful. You were smart to get out in front of this story instead of presenting debate coverage a week after the event.

NOTE: It will be interesting to see what the Statesman does on its Web page with the debate. This is the sort of story that calls out for some sort of same-day coverage, and the Web page makes that possible.

Timing

In addition to the debate story, this issue includes several other stories that alert readers to events that are coming up. As a reader, I thank you. I want to read about a play or an art exhibit when I have a chance to see it rather than after it's closed.

This week the A&E section gives me three such stories: Seussical the Musical, dance by Semblesque Performance Company, and Frank Big Bear's art at the Tweed. Advance notice of the events serves everyone. Readers learn of events they might want to attend, the artists and organizers get the word out about their work, and the newspaper has a feeling of being plugged in and knowing what's going on in its community.

Leads

The paper is moving away from mundane topic leads. Once again, I thank you as a reader. My favorite lead this week was penned by Ted Norgaard in his story about the boat race on Rock Pond:

Cardboard isn't designed to float, but last Thursday in Rock Pond by Oakland Apartments, it kind of did.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Placement

The story about the city's 300-foot for rental properties is nicely done, and it's a big story – especially on campus. I'd play it up more. This story merits some sort of mention on the front page. This is one of the week's big stories, and it has some good reporting in it, so steer readers to it.

Sources

During the reporting phase, I'd suggest that editors and reporters make a list of who might appear in each story. Pretty often Statesman stories are missing one or two perspectives that would give the story that much more depth.

For example, the 300-foot rule story would be even stronger with a landlord's voice in it. We hear from a city council member who describes the landlords' position, but that makes me want to hear from a landlord.

Editorial point of view

I'm puzzled by the use of the first-person in the unsigned editorial. Who is this mysterious "I" who's addressing me? Either the writer should sign the piece – the option I prefer, because it tells readers where these opinions come from – or the writer should avoid the first-person. I'm in the minority in my distaste for unsigned editorials; most big papers run them. But they also avoid using "I."

Posted by Chris at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Comments on the 10-8-08 issue of the Statesman

Thanks to Chris Julin for starting this public discussion of the Statesman. Here's my thoughts on the Oct. 8 issue. I have also given the editor-in-chief a hard copy with a more detailed edit.
- John Hatcher

STUFF I LIKE
Page One
There's a lot to like about the Statesman this semester. The redesign is bold and signals a new leadership and direction for the paper. I've enjoyed watching the front page evolve and take on a personality. It gets your attention and I think this week's front page is the best of the semester so far. It's clean and professional looking. It uses white space effectively, has a dominant photo and headline and -- most importantly -- the decision of what to run is made based on a decision about an important news story. It is also a powerful front page because the colors of the photo are the ones used throughout the page - which is not going to be the case with every issue if you stay with the UMD-themed colors.
The challenge with using big art on the front page is that the best art may not always be with the strongest story. Last week's leaf photo was a great photo, but if leaves turning color is the strongest news in the paper... it's a slow news day. The curious thing about this front-page story is that it doesn't get the same kind of play in the sports section, which is a little puzzling. In this issue, I think you could have also argued for the Safe Walk photo to run on page 1. More on photos below.
OK, I'll also say this: I HATE ALL CAPS. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE YELLING AT ME.

Stories worth reading
There are a number of stories that are compelling and interesting this week, and I think that the staff has done a nice job responding to Chris Julin's lead challenge:
- Veronica Wilson does a nice job with the story on Safe Walk and starting it off with a real person facing a real moment that backs up the need for this service.
- I especially like Kristen Krebs' story on the coffee shop that isn't. Too often a reporter will be given something like this and just come back and say, nope, no story. Instead, she explores the myth and delivers on a story about something that isn't there. Not an easy thing to do.
- Both opinion pieces on page 11 are strong and show that columns must be more than rants. These opinion pieces are backed up by reporting so readers can make up their own minds on the issues.
- The Superior accordions is a very interesting story topic and a piece with a lot of potential. I hope A&E will keep exploring places in Duluth that aren't obvious to everyone. Maybe I missed it, but I would like to know where the museum is so I can go visit it. Am I looking past the address? I also would love some real people in this story and maybe a little more of a visual. This page, however, is a cleanly designed page and looks professional. Nice dominant art with another contrasting photo below. Well done.

THANK YOU...
...for including the e-mail addresses of editors and reporters. This shows accountability and accessibility. Well done.
... for no longer capitalizing university. That always drives me nuts.
... for no longer using AP copy as filler. We're a community newspaper and no community newspaper worth its salt (I don't know what that means) uses wire copy.

STUFF TO CONSIDER
The comma and when to use it
Overall, I found the paper to be clean. Few typos or misspelled words. However, I gave up counting the number of misplaced commas in this issue. The use of them seems almost random and it's crucial that we know when to use a comma and when not to. In general, their use seems to occur when there is a question as to whether to use a period, a comma, a dash or a colon. Perhaps a workshop for editors on the use of commas would be a useful thing. Until then, this Web site has a nice overview.

Big questions add context
There are some strong stories in the paper that could be stronger by asking a few questions that would put things in perspective. In the story on Rosh Hashanah: How many Jewish students attend UMD? In the endowment story: What is the size of the university's endowment overall and how can I get a scholarship if I want one? In the Safe Walk story: How often has the service been used? I think we may allow sources to kind of dodge this particular question -- and the answer may be that it isn't used at all. Still, I think we have to say that.

Elements of photos
Tyler Sweeney (fellow surfer) and his photo crew have done a great job with images this semester. I think the challenge is to use those images on inside pages to their full strength and to keep striving for people in pictures. Also, I wonder if the two pictures on page 3 are staged photos or photo illustrations. If so, we probably need to tell the reader this. A rule that should be stuck to is that any photo of a person needs identification or it can't run. The page 3 person walking at night is a solid photo, but either we say it's an illustration or we say who that is. The page 2 photo also must have identification. Also, cutlines for photos (aka captions) must have more information. Assume that some readers will only look at the pictures and the cultines. As such, we have to give them more of the story.

Sports and the UMD Web site...
Sports writers face two challenges here on campus. First, they are writing stories of events that can be more than a week old so they have to use second-day leads that give us something new to read -- ideally the focus more on what is to come than what has happened. Second, they are competing with the UMD Athletics department which invests heavily in writers who cover the different teams and put those stories up immediately. I suspect that those who have a strong interest in a team won't find much new to read on our pages. That becomes even more apparent when most of the Sports stories use the UMD Web site as a source. I begin to wonder how we can add something new to this coverage and how much we rely on the Web site for our information. I think I'd use the Web site only as a last resort and make it clear in our reporting that we do our own work. However, I'll also say that I'm very glad the sportswriters let readers know from where they got the information, which is the right thing to do.

Don't hyphenate words ending in -ly
I put this in here for my editing class students, who would be disappointed if it wasn't in here. There is an example of this on the bottom of page 11.

STUFF I WISH FOR...
I wish that we would return to our coverage of campus crime and especially incidents involving alcohol abuse. I hear too much as I walk the halls about arrests and police busts and students hospitalized because of alcohol poisoning. It's disturbing and I can't help but think that if we documented publicly just how much of this kind of stuff happens the reality might become more apparent.

I wish our paper had more of a community discussion. I'd like to have a community section in the newspaper and I would love to see more letters to the editor and guest essays. There is a lot happening on our campus and many diverse viewpoints. I wish I knew the secret to bringing more of them to our campus paper. Letters are the barometer of the community's engagement in your product.

- 30 -
(That's newspaper talk for the end)

Posted by John Hatcher at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here are my comments on the 10/1/08 UMD Statesman.

--Chris Julin

COVER

The front page continues to look good. It grabs my attention and it's timely.

And once again there's news in the news section. The first two pages contain five stories, and no jumps. It's easy to read, and it's interesting to read.

LEADS

My favorite lead in this issue is on the Sara Jochems story. It has some color but still manages to tell me what the story's about.

As a former resident of Indiana, Corbin Smyth has a lot of things he needs to get used to: the Duluth weather, culture and his new position at the UMD Kirby Student Center director (KD).

I'm still seeing some topic leads in this issue – leads that say, essentially:

[EVENT] occurred at [PLACE] on [DAY OF WEEK].

That information, almost always, belongs further down in the story. At the top of the story we readers want to find something interesting, surprising or new that happened or was said. When UMD hosts a speaker or there's a gathering of some sort the fact of the event seldom makes for an interesting lead.

Professor John Hatcher has suggested that we institute a ban on topic leads at UMD. We haven't discussed penalties yet or who's in charge of enforcement.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This one jumped out at me from Ryan Hanson's story about Ultimate Frisbee:

"If it hadn't been for the hippies throwing Frisbees on the beach, the sport wouldn't be where it is."

PHOTOS AND LAYOUT

The photos look good this week. We get a couple of lovely shots of fall color. (It might be interesting to include a person or people in one of them.) Sports has a couple of nice shots, and so does A&E.

I think the photos could be used to better effect in several cases. I'm confused a bit by some of the layout decisions. On pages 3, 18 and 22 there are pairs of photos right next to each other, but in each case the photos are connected to different stories. It's confusing, and it looks a bit cluttered.

For a contrast, look at page 2 where the two photos, right next to each other, are connected to the same story. That's natural. It's what I expect when pictures are juxtaposed. On 3, 18 and 22 the photos look as though they belong to the same story. There's a thin vertical line separating them, but that's not enough help to the reader's eye. The photos need to be physically separate, and it would help if there's a clear anchor photo, one picture that's dominant on a page.

Page 18 offers a good example: The photos are both colorful and effective, but they fight with each other, sitting there cheek by jowl, roughly the same size at the top of the page.

TYPOS IN SPROTS

The sports section has two nice stories, but the errors detract from the page – especially when there are three that catch my eye immediately. The "Vollyball" headline needs another "e," and the byline needs a complete name for the reporter.

And I read the football story lead three times wondering if this was a bit of sports jargon I'd never run across before. I was intrigued to learn that "the University of Mary traveled to UMD to stop the steak last Saturday."

The next paragraph makes it clear: UMD is on a winning streak – no sirloin involved.

Posted by Chris at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)