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davis_squareA couple of days ago, I posted this entry regarding the Somerville Journal. This morning, when I checked my e-mail and read through the comments still trickling in, I noted that one had been received from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
somjournal asking that such criticisms be e-mailed to somerville @ cnc dot com.
So, I jotted down my grievance and collected as many of your comments as I could find/remember and, as best I could, told the Somerville Journal that they need serious help.
The e-mail was sent today during my lunch at 2:15 pm. I still haven't heard anything back.
Not sure I articulated very well, but I do know I did better than their reporters seem to.
Somerville Journal Staff and Editors,
I recently made a public post to an online community forum (The Davis Square community on Live Journal) regarding an article written by Mr. S.H. Bagley on the 20th of November. The article was titled, Pero: Civilians Should Honor Veteran’s Day.
My primary concern, as veteran and member of The Dilboy Post, was the incorrect statement that the city of Somerville hosted the Veteran’s Day events at The Dilboy Post. This matter was brought to my attention while preparing for a shift at The Post when the commander, Mr. Hardy, who was reading a hard copy of the Journal, spotted the article and went upstairs to call the Journal straight away to correct this mis-statement. I told Mr. Hardy then that I would post a correction to a well known and frequented online community as well.
My original post, admittedly, was what might be termed sarcastic, however, the number of comments that it elicited was, at last count yesterday, around 55 (and has since gone up by a few) – and nearly every commenter had something critical to say about the state of The Somerville Journal as a news source. Today, I received a comment from a user named “somjournal” directing us to this e-mail address for future concerns. I decided that the best course of action would be to highlight our concerns collectively using this avenue.
First, the original post was, as indicated, prompted by a poorly written, factually incorrect article (link here: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x224442050 ). This article is really more of a collection of quotes attributed to Alderman Pero, speaking out about the lack of participation in Veteran’s Day affairs in Somerville although participation by whom is not really made clear. I find it hard to believe, however, that Mr. Bagley didn’t ask clarifying questions when faced with statements such as, “the few of us that were present at Dilboy Post were speaking to one another.” Few of who? The Dilboy hosts the Marine Corps Birthday/Veteran’s Day party on the 10th of November annually and never is there a better showing of members, politicians, servicemembers and friends (civilian even!) than on that day. And of course, one would believe that those gathered at a celebration such as this would, in fact, be speaking to each other. It’s a common occurrence at celebratory gatherings.
Bagley himself asserts that the city hosted this event which is completely incorrect. While I am unaware of where the funding came from this year, whether it was Post funds or privately funded by a member who does this each year, I can assure you, the city didn’t spend a dime.
Several commenters noted that Mr. Bagley’s articles are routinely this bad. Statements trail off, sentences lead to nowhere and articles themselves seem to end after only an introduction. One commenter to my post noted, “Was that the article written by an 8th grader?” On reading through letters to wickedlocal.com, I found more than one that were long statements of correction by the person or persons quoted or featured as subjects or subject matter experts in Mr. Bagley’s articles. These letters noted that they were mis-quoted or taken completely out of context and not at all representative of what the interviewee actually discussed with Mr. Bagley. And in reference to the Veteran’s Day article, if Mr. Bagley was going to write an article on non-participation in the city, why was his only source of information one Alderman? Why didn’t he take the Alderman’s statements and contact others who attended and, most importantly, the hosts of the events themselves – The Post? What I noticed in connection with all of this too was that there appeared to be no apology from the editor (common in many papers when confronted with letters like this) and no articles of correction or even statements of correction on the following day. This led me to ask, if a reporter completely skews the facts and mis-quotes or mis-reports something altogether, is it on the public to ensure that a letter is written to notify everyone that the paper made a mistake???
Other concerns brought up besides Mr. Bagley’s history of infamously poor reporting and spelling skills was the apparent lack of editorial oversight – a subject that, when broached by a few commenters, I couldn’t have agreed with more. It’s bad enough that the journalists for this paper seem to be wholly unskilled, but the editor seems to approve any piece that crosses her desk so that she can take the time to pursue more ridiculous fluff pieces (a short piece on ties was commented on) rather than ensure that real news is reported correctly.
An editor worth her salt would have rejected the article above and so many others cited without a second thought.
Fact checking and lack of follow through was also addressed. Examples given were the piece on the Winter Hill Star Market closing with no mention of why (or even that the question had been asked and the store owners refused to answer) along with several other community pieces that would only say, “XX happened” and leave off without further explanation as to why, when, how, etcetera.
And as far as the wickedlocal.com website is concerned, two questions that merit an answer from your staff were raised:
1. Why in the world would you replace a tab titled “People” (easy to read, understand, comprehend) with a tab titled “Celebrations” and then post stories like the recent one about Army PFC Kantrell being DEPLOYED? When I deployed, as much as I believed in what I was doing, I didn’t celebrate. I celebrated when I RETURNED. The tab, “Celebrations” is a ridiculous section title to begin with but really…posting information and articles such as this under that section heading just completely defies logic.
2. Why in the world would you have a big, bold link to Somerville Staff Blogs on the site only to have it lead to the following message: Somerville - Don't hit that headline link! That won't get you anywhere. What you want to be doing is reading the Somerville Journal staff blog. That will get you somewhere.
Why don’t you just fix the link instead of leaving a ridiculous message like this up for over two months now???
I believe that the bottom line is this: While user somjournal cited a lack of coverage in the Somerville area by reporters when responding to my post, your readers only see a lack of quality, newsworthy news or care paid at all to this paper. I see a paper more interested in saving money (apparently) at the expense of its very reason for existence – quality, local news reporting.
One commenter to my post noted that the journalistic quality of this paper is only as good (really, worse) than the average Live Journal blog post. It was pointed out that “blogging” has become a substitute for reporting today and that mentality is actually being carried over into publications such as this. While certain bloggers have found their niche in the world of news and made an impact on public opinion, this hardly implies that newspapers should follow suit. The number of bloggers out there is phenomenal and very few ever make a blip on the radar. Blogging is a poor replacement or substitute for reporting and it shouldn’t be encouraged by your editors any longer.
We all hope that you’ll take these comments seriously and address the problems that plague your paper because sadly, I believe that this e-mail is better written, more factual and more informative than any article we’ve read in a long time in The Somerville Journal, even though it did take more than 30 seconds to read (also unlike most of your articles today).
Regards,
Ms. Needham
somjournal asking that such criticisms be e-mailed to somerville @ cnc dot com.So, I jotted down my grievance and collected as many of your comments as I could find/remember and, as best I could, told the Somerville Journal that they need serious help.
The e-mail was sent today during my lunch at 2:15 pm. I still haven't heard anything back.
Not sure I articulated very well, but I do know I did better than their reporters seem to.
Somerville Journal Staff and Editors,
I recently made a public post to an online community forum (The Davis Square community on Live Journal) regarding an article written by Mr. S.H. Bagley on the 20th of November. The article was titled, Pero: Civilians Should Honor Veteran’s Day.
My primary concern, as veteran and member of The Dilboy Post, was the incorrect statement that the city of Somerville hosted the Veteran’s Day events at The Dilboy Post. This matter was brought to my attention while preparing for a shift at The Post when the commander, Mr. Hardy, who was reading a hard copy of the Journal, spotted the article and went upstairs to call the Journal straight away to correct this mis-statement. I told Mr. Hardy then that I would post a correction to a well known and frequented online community as well.
My original post, admittedly, was what might be termed sarcastic, however, the number of comments that it elicited was, at last count yesterday, around 55 (and has since gone up by a few) – and nearly every commenter had something critical to say about the state of The Somerville Journal as a news source. Today, I received a comment from a user named “somjournal” directing us to this e-mail address for future concerns. I decided that the best course of action would be to highlight our concerns collectively using this avenue.
First, the original post was, as indicated, prompted by a poorly written, factually incorrect article (link here: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x224442050 ). This article is really more of a collection of quotes attributed to Alderman Pero, speaking out about the lack of participation in Veteran’s Day affairs in Somerville although participation by whom is not really made clear. I find it hard to believe, however, that Mr. Bagley didn’t ask clarifying questions when faced with statements such as, “the few of us that were present at Dilboy Post were speaking to one another.” Few of who? The Dilboy hosts the Marine Corps Birthday/Veteran’s Day party on the 10th of November annually and never is there a better showing of members, politicians, servicemembers and friends (civilian even!) than on that day. And of course, one would believe that those gathered at a celebration such as this would, in fact, be speaking to each other. It’s a common occurrence at celebratory gatherings.
Bagley himself asserts that the city hosted this event which is completely incorrect. While I am unaware of where the funding came from this year, whether it was Post funds or privately funded by a member who does this each year, I can assure you, the city didn’t spend a dime.
Several commenters noted that Mr. Bagley’s articles are routinely this bad. Statements trail off, sentences lead to nowhere and articles themselves seem to end after only an introduction. One commenter to my post noted, “Was that the article written by an 8th grader?” On reading through letters to wickedlocal.com, I found more than one that were long statements of correction by the person or persons quoted or featured as subjects or subject matter experts in Mr. Bagley’s articles. These letters noted that they were mis-quoted or taken completely out of context and not at all representative of what the interviewee actually discussed with Mr. Bagley. And in reference to the Veteran’s Day article, if Mr. Bagley was going to write an article on non-participation in the city, why was his only source of information one Alderman? Why didn’t he take the Alderman’s statements and contact others who attended and, most importantly, the hosts of the events themselves – The Post? What I noticed in connection with all of this too was that there appeared to be no apology from the editor (common in many papers when confronted with letters like this) and no articles of correction or even statements of correction on the following day. This led me to ask, if a reporter completely skews the facts and mis-quotes or mis-reports something altogether, is it on the public to ensure that a letter is written to notify everyone that the paper made a mistake???
Other concerns brought up besides Mr. Bagley’s history of infamously poor reporting and spelling skills was the apparent lack of editorial oversight – a subject that, when broached by a few commenters, I couldn’t have agreed with more. It’s bad enough that the journalists for this paper seem to be wholly unskilled, but the editor seems to approve any piece that crosses her desk so that she can take the time to pursue more ridiculous fluff pieces (a short piece on ties was commented on) rather than ensure that real news is reported correctly.
An editor worth her salt would have rejected the article above and so many others cited without a second thought.
Fact checking and lack of follow through was also addressed. Examples given were the piece on the Winter Hill Star Market closing with no mention of why (or even that the question had been asked and the store owners refused to answer) along with several other community pieces that would only say, “XX happened” and leave off without further explanation as to why, when, how, etcetera.
And as far as the wickedlocal.com website is concerned, two questions that merit an answer from your staff were raised:
1. Why in the world would you replace a tab titled “People” (easy to read, understand, comprehend) with a tab titled “Celebrations” and then post stories like the recent one about Army PFC Kantrell being DEPLOYED? When I deployed, as much as I believed in what I was doing, I didn’t celebrate. I celebrated when I RETURNED. The tab, “Celebrations” is a ridiculous section title to begin with but really…posting information and articles such as this under that section heading just completely defies logic.
2. Why in the world would you have a big, bold link to Somerville Staff Blogs on the site only to have it lead to the following message: Somerville - Don't hit that headline link! That won't get you anywhere. What you want to be doing is reading the Somerville Journal staff blog. That will get you somewhere.
Why don’t you just fix the link instead of leaving a ridiculous message like this up for over two months now???
I believe that the bottom line is this: While user somjournal cited a lack of coverage in the Somerville area by reporters when responding to my post, your readers only see a lack of quality, newsworthy news or care paid at all to this paper. I see a paper more interested in saving money (apparently) at the expense of its very reason for existence – quality, local news reporting.
One commenter to my post noted that the journalistic quality of this paper is only as good (really, worse) than the average Live Journal blog post. It was pointed out that “blogging” has become a substitute for reporting today and that mentality is actually being carried over into publications such as this. While certain bloggers have found their niche in the world of news and made an impact on public opinion, this hardly implies that newspapers should follow suit. The number of bloggers out there is phenomenal and very few ever make a blip on the radar. Blogging is a poor replacement or substitute for reporting and it shouldn’t be encouraged by your editors any longer.
We all hope that you’ll take these comments seriously and address the problems that plague your paper because sadly, I believe that this e-mail is better written, more factual and more informative than any article we’ve read in a long time in The Somerville Journal, even though it did take more than 30 seconds to read (also unlike most of your articles today).
Regards,
Ms. Needham
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-04 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-04 11:41 pm (UTC)I'm just not sure I articulated well at all. I was tired and irritated by the project I was working on and chose a poor time to fire this off.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 03:22 am (UTC)The Journal office is in the Harvard Vanguard medical building, so they probably do have heat ;-)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 03:26 am (UTC)hahah, glad to see they've got at least the basic amenities!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 12:36 pm (UTC)And even I can set automated responses.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 12:38 pm (UTC)I've written many a letter to many a reporter and never received a reply...but then, I don't expect to.
However, for something like this that directly addresses issues in a publication, I would hope they at least offer me a courtesy note in return.
Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 12:51 pm (UTC)The articulate responses and (often valid) criticisms of the Journal that you write about make it clear that you have a head for facts and an ability to write. You probably can't get current stringers dismissed, but you could sign up to become one. That could be good for the Journal and good for Somerville.
And, if you can't write for the Journal, appoint yourself unofficial ombudsman (ombuds-grrrl?). All of us have time to sit at our computers, report our opinions, endorse other opinions we like, and idly natter about how things could be better. Having enough time is not the issue. But an ongoing conversation, say, here AND by email to the Journal, would serve the publication well.
Here are some suggestions for the ombuds-thing role:
- stick to the facts. Is the story accurate? Is it clear? Is it complete? Is it omitting opposing points of view?
- don't criticize people, their skills, their intelligence, their education. Just say, for example, the story by this reporter falls short in these ways. Over time, the din of objective criticism will deafen a few reporters and may compel their editors to act. (Commonly known as "the stick.")
- praise the good stuff (a.k.a., "the carrot")
- offer ideas. Suggest things you'd like to see covered, propose sidelights to typical stories, offer ideas about how to juxtapose reporting and opinion, new and blogs.
It's easy to criticize. Even when we're right, it makes us feel superior. But really, if we just want to feel angry and justified, there's talk radio.
And finally, I'm no Pollyanna. I have low expectations of the Journal, but I forgive them a lot because I read daily newspapers with which it can't compete. There are still howlers in its pages. The Speak Out section is as much entertainment as it is leading indicator. This is a small town and I'm sure the Journal budget is similarly small. Do you know what its reporters make? We should thank them for showing up. That's why I suggest getting on their side, assume they're working hard and help them improve, while not shying away from clear and public criticism of the Journal's shortcomings.
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 01:04 pm (UTC)I don't have a degree, never mind one in Journalism, so the odds of my signing up and actually getting selected to be a "stringer" are probably slim. But I did make the offer. : )
I don't want to see anyone dismissed. What I would like to see (and I'm sure many Journal readers would agree) is extra time paid to articles by reporting and editing staff - even if it means staying later with no compensatory thanks.
My own work ethic may be part of this. I get paid for 8 hours a day but routinely work 10. My job demands more than what my company is willing to shell out due to budgetary restrictions, but it's not just a job. It's something more and I wouldn't be doing it if I treated it as merely a tool to pay bills.
Granted, I do get paid more than the reporters for this daily, I know that...
But I digress.
I do like the idea of being able to contribute to local news somehow though. I may consider your idea with some seriousness.
And I do agree that criticism is only constructive when you make it a point to offer solutions to problems AND ensure that you don't continually harp on the negative. After all, if you don't know what is going right, you can't follow those examples.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 01:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 01:14 pm (UTC)Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 04:45 pm (UTC)Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 04:53 pm (UTC)Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 05:38 pm (UTC)My brother edited a local weekly in a city of 20,000 with a staff of 1.75 FTE not including himself. His paper was a lot better and less prone to error than the SJ and CC, even though he often wrote every word in it himself.
Small, under-resourced papers don't have to be shoddily done. They don't have to misrepresent facts. They can interview the appropriate people for the appropriate stories (failing to speak with the veterans' post commandants for a story on Veteran's Day exercises is inexcusable for a student newspaper, let alone a professional one).
I do sympathize with the lack of resources at the SJ and CC. But I also think they could be working smarter with the little they have.
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 06:04 pm (UTC)Medicine, law, teaching...those things may require inherent skills but degrees to hone that talent are really rather important.
Other fields though...well...I've met people who are total idiots and have degrees and others who are uneducated geniuses.
Give me an uneducated genius over a person with a doctorate who still doesn't know how to use a screwdriver any day.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 06:07 pm (UTC)If that's not the case anymore, it's really sad.
But again, I agree with you that small does not and should not mean shoddy.
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 06:08 pm (UTC)No deegrees and no batches. No wee's talking, Meester.
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 06:09 pm (UTC)How did you go about doing it? What did you write about?
Maybe I could start covering Post events myself. Or would that be too biased?
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 06:13 pm (UTC)If you wrote news stories about your post's events, that wouldn't be very objective, but perhaps you could instead contribute an occasional "From the Post" column? Columns don't have to be objective.
Re: Let's not pigpile on the Journal for our idle entertainment
Date: 2007-12-05 06:16 pm (UTC)The tough bit is that I don't actually live in Somerville so I rely more on people like you to keep me up with the daily affairs of what's what around town. Kind of makes finding topics to write on outside my little sphere a bit hard.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-05 06:42 pm (UTC)