Rather than dealing with issues about newsroom ethics or journalistic independence, this week’s Ombudsman column grows out of another aspect of being the readers’ representative: getting answers to questions about how things work at Stripes and stripes.com.
Online today and in print on Friday, the column pulls back the curtain on the programs that automatically assemble “navigation aids” on the website, such as those “Most Read,” “Emailed” and “Hot Topics” lists. And explains -- or sometimes, can only make a good guess – how a story from deep in the archives gets to be a “Hot Topic” today.
Knowing what other readers find interesting can be an efficient (or just entertaining) guide for sorting through the day’s news on a website. So what’s that story from last month doing in the “Most Read” or “Hot Topics” list? Or that letter to the editor from 2010? Or that story from 2005?
That’s what Stripes reader Jerry White of Nellis AFB, Nevada, asks in today’s installment of The Inbox:
This week’s Ombudsman column is about balanced coverage on a continuing news story that’s especially important to servicemembers, veterans and their families: Are they being ripped off when they use the education benefits they earned under the Post-9/11 GI Bill?
Crystal Hicks of Fayetteville, N.C., says Stripes opinion pages have had too many pieces in favor of for-profit career colleges and not enough about some of those schools’ poor records of job placement, high student debt and incomplete degrees.
One of my chief responsibilities as Ombudsman is to represent Stars and Stripes readers’ interest in the newsroom’s journalistic performance, so I’ll regularly use this space to respond to readers’ emails and online comments. I’ll keep it short here on the blog, but sometimes an issue will become the basis for a regular column – which I hope will generate even more give-and-take.
The Inbox lately has hummed with concerns – let’s even say accusations – that Stripes engaged in censorship by not running the Doonesbury comic strip satirizing state legislatures that are imposing mandatory ultrasound requirements on women seeking abortions. You can look back at the strip via the archive on the Doonesbury website. Here’s a sample of readers’ comments, followed by my response.
Here's a link to the Ombudsman column I posted today after checking for gags about religion in the Stripes daily comics pages. The column is in Friday's print editions.
Thanks to Army Capt. Brian Kovacic in Qatar, who raised the question after he saw a pattern he didn't like in Stripes' comics.
Humor in every form has a way of finding dangerous ground, especially when it comes to taste, politics -- and especially religion.
After a deployed captain emailed that Stripes' comics pages had been on a streak of offensive comics about religion, the newsroom and I took a closer look.
My column on Friday focused on how Stripes editors handled photos of the Republican primary candidates over a full month. A reader thought too many of the images showed them "sour-faced." Tallying up all the appearances in February, I concluded the photos followed news events and showed good news judgment -- and that the meaning behind the candidates' expressions depended on the eye of the beholder.
Here's an example of a page with Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum side by side. The photos are from their speeches at the Conservative Political Action Committee showcase. Do they look tough? Or determined? Or sour? Or something else?
In the world of digital journalism, it’s easy to tell when a letter to the editor really strikes a nerve. Howls erupt in the readers’ comments. Today’s example is this letter to the editor about this March 3 news photo that showed a gay Marine in his partner’s arms at a homecoming after a six-month deployment in Afghanistan.
As I post this, the letter has attracted 234 comments, and climbing. On the stripes.com home page, it’s still ranked “Most read” and “Hot topic” more than a day after it was published.
Here's a chart that shows how many times President Obama and each Republican candidate appeared in photos and editorial cartoons in Stripes last month.
I'm not surprised to find that the president appeared the most, and that the Republican candidates tally up in the same order as they’ve performed in the primaries: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and then Ron Paul.
The long Republican primary process has given Stars and Stripes an early start on the special scrutiny from readers that comes with covering politics, with much more to follow when the presidential election itself begins.
Based a question from Colleen Bishop of Camp Zama, Japan, I decided to look at the 29 editions published in February and see what the scorecard would say.
The raw numbers – the times the president and each candidate appeared – track the news: Obama appears the most, and Republican candidates appear in the same order as they’ve performed in the primaries: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and then Ron Paul.
In my column in Friday's paper (and at stripes.com on Thursday), I'll lay out the details and explain why I soon gave up on keeping a “sour-face index.”
But there are lessons to be learned from the numbers -- and I expect more questions to follow.
After more than 30 years covering politics, I wasn’t surprised that the first question I heard from a Stripes reader involved the presidential election. Colleen Bishop of Camp Zama, Japan, had been comparing photos and cartoon images of the Republican primary candidates and President Obama for a week or so, and thought the Republicans were getting the worst of it. To her, they appeared sour or angry, where the president looked happy. Read her letter, which Stripes published on Feb. 17, here.
I looked back at Stars and Stripes editions in February to make my own scorecard. That will be the focus of my Ombudsman column in the paper on Friday (and at stripes.com on Thursday).
The New York Times carried a useful roundup about the Fort Meade move on Saturday, by Times reporter Thom Shanker. A search for alternative space seems to be in the works Here's a link:
Interesting comments on my column on why the Stars and Stripes central office shouldn’t be co-located with Defense Media Activity’s main command-directed production center at Fort Meade. Some support the move. Some object to it. Some of the objections actually make my point. I’ll take up a sample and respond here on the blog, in the spirit of give and take. You can read all the comments here. (Just scroll to the bottom.) Please add your own comments, at the bottom of the column or here on the blog.
Considering how commonly online comments descend into rants and vulgarity, let me note right away how impressively civil and rational these have been.
As a journalist for more than three decades, Ernie Gates has been a reporter,
editor and news executive, including 10 years leading the enterprising print and
digital newsroom of Tribune Co.’s Daily Press in Hampton Roads, Va.
News for and about service members, families and veterans has always been a
key focus in Hampton Roads, where every branch of the armed services has a
significant presence.
As vice president and editor, Ernie was responsible for all news, business,
features and sports coverage and oversaw the editorial page. He also wrote the
daily Feedback column, responding to readers’ questions and comments about
coverage, news judgment, journalism ethics, taste and other issues. Representing
the paper as a public speaker, he focused on News Values and Credibility.
He is a past president of the Virginia Press Association and a past chairman
of Virginia Associated Press Newspapers. At the Daily Press, he also served as
Vice President for Strategy and Development and as Interim Publisher.
Since leaving the Daily Press in 2010, Ernie has stayed active in public
affairs. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Lewis B. Puller Jr.
Veterans Benefits Clinic at the William & Mary Law School. In 2011, he served as
an advisor to the non-partisan Virginia Redistricting Coalition and the
Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting established by
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Born in Virginia, Ernie later lived in Baltimore and Philadelphia. He
returned to Virginia to attend the College of William and Mary, and except for a
brief time as a copy editor in Washington, D.C., he has lived in Williamsburg
ever since. He and his wife, Betsy, have three adult children.
Congress created the post in the early 1990’s to ensure that Stars and Stripes journalists operate with editorial independence and that Stars and Stripes readers receive a free flow of news and information without taint of censorship or propaganda.
The ombudsman serves as an autonomous watchdog of Stars and Stripes’ First Amendment rights. Anyone who fears those rights are imperiled should alert the ombudsman.
The ombudsman is also the readers’ representative to the newsroom. Readers who think a journalistic issue or event was misrepresented or ignored or who feel complaints were not properly addressed by Stripes reporters or editors should contact the ombudsman.
