Public Editor
Comments on the 1/28/09 UMD Statesman.
Page one grabs me
The paper continues to look good. I'm struck by that when I see it on the stand in the hallway – it catches my eye. The front page is appealing without feeling cluttered. This week a friend of mine picked up my copy of the Statesman and started reading. She used to see the paper quite often, but it's been a couple of years. "It really looks good," she said with genuine enthusiasm.
In the past I've sometimes suggested that the front page could feel "newsier," that it might offer stories that surprise me or better entice me to turn the page and look inside. This week all three stories on the cover made me want to read on.
Quoting the DNT
I was surprised to see this sentence in the story about stores closing at the Miller Hill Mall: "According to the Duluth News Tribune, Whitehall Co. Jewelers and Mrs. Fields, a cookie chain, have already left."
Only under extreme circumstances should the paper quote another paper. (For example, imagine that the mayor resigns and grants only one, exclusive media interview leaving everyone else no choice but to quote the organization that got the interview.) It shouldn't happen for a simple fact that the Statesman can – and should – confirm on its own.
And now I'm going to repeat myself. The next three items are topics I've touched on before, but it's a new semester and a new year, so I'll seize the moment to bring them up again.
Did I mention leads?
Since the beginning of this school year the leads in the Statesman have improved noticeably. I sense a little backsliding in this issue. Several are a bit flat and term-paperish. They're vague and fail to tell me what the point of the story is. I urge you to either deliver the goods succinctly or open with something colorful and inviting.
Liz Strawn and David Cowardin took creative approaches in their leads and I was particularly drawn to those stories. Each of them wrote a feature that offered nice opportunities for painting a scene. Liz covered the Chinese New Year celebration in the Kirby Ballroom.
Stepping into the Kirby Ball room last Sunday night was like dropping in on a celebration that was taking place on the opposite side of the world.
David wrote about a UMD student who competed in the John Beargrease mid-distance sled dog race.
Five! Four! Three! Two! One! The announcer at the John Beargrease Dog Sled Marathon counted down the last seconds before UMD junior Christa Kamphenkel began her trek up the north shore.
In both cases I want to read on to find out more.
What's that letter?
As a reader I continue to be frustrated by the lack of headliness on the letters to the editor. "Letter to the editor" as a headline doesn't pique my interest. If this week's letter had even a simple, somewhat dorky headline like, "Textbook woes," I'd be much more tempted to give it a read.
Closer to home
This week's issue of the Statesman includes two columns that have no direct connection to UMD or Duluth or Minnesota, even. The "Critic's choice" comparison of two DVDs and "The Average Guy" on the sports page could have been written anywhere and picked up off a wire service.
Usually "Hollywood & Vine" has no local connection – which I've questioned in previous Public Editor installments – but this week H & V is home-based. I liked it more.
I'm not necessarily arguing against these columns. I got a kick out of the "Critic's" showdown between two mediocre-to-bad movies. But I do wonder if these types of columns would have more kick and more appeal if they focused on local events.
For example, as I've said before, I don't understand why the Statesman gives space to sports columns that offer us one person's musings on what's up this week in professional sports. There are hundreds – probably thousands – of Web sites, publications, radio and TV stations that already do that. But I know of no column anywhere that discusses the rich world of UMD sports.
-Chris Julin