As a former newspaper reporter, I can remember the dozens of telephone calls I used to receive on a daily basis while sitting at my desk in the newsroom. Often times when I would return from covering an assignment, I would see the red "message" light lit up on my telephone. Working at a newspaper, you never quite know who will be on the other end when you answer the telephone.
I never knew when I might encounter someone who was angry about one of my recent stories, or when I might hear from one of the many readers who called on a weekly basis with story ideas and tips. One thing is certain: I never ignored my telephone because I always knew the call might be important. I eventually became used to taking calls at work, on my cell and even at home at all times of the day and night.
During the course of several years hearing from readers via phone and e-mail, I realized just how important it is for newspaper reporters to at least listen to what their readers have to say. The main reason for that is because our readers are news consumers -- the people we're trying to inform -- and their opinions and preferences matter. You serve the readers, not the sources. It doesn't mean you have to always follow readers' advice, but at least give them a chance to speak.
Here are five valuable lessons I learned about journalism from taking the time to listen to readers.
1. If you take the time to review public records and conduct research, you might discover an important story readers need to know about. I can't tell you how many times I received telephone calls from one gentleman in particular who always suggested different public records I should review. This man just had a feeling there might be something newsworthy hidden deep inside the thick budget just passed by the county government. He was right nine times out of 10. No matter how much times it takes, journalists must be willing to dig for stories and search through stacks of documents.
2. There are sources you don't know about that can provide key information for stories you're writing. I always asked sources at the end of interviews about other people they thought I should interview for a specific story. That question usually resulted in me lining up an interview with someone I might never have thought of interviewing before. Many times I received phone calls from readers who wanted to suggest a story for me to cover. These readers usually suggested sources too. So, readers actually helped me cover some of my stories in the sense that their suggestions ultimately led to me arranging interviews with the sources they informed me about.
3. There are news events that are about to occur, and readers sometimes know about them before the people getting paid to cover the news. Sometimes I heard from someone once and never heard from that person again. Other times, I heard from some individuals on a weekly basis. While some of my readers claimed to have knowledge of upcoming events and their so-called "tips" didn't pan out, other readers clued me into stories that actually ended up happening. I was happy to know ahead of time about events or stories that were about to emerge. We must give some readers credit, because they may be better informed than us. It's OK to admit that.
4. There are many benefits to surveying your subscribers, and one of the most important benefits is finding out what your readers don't like about your newspaper. When I started at the Georgetown News-Graphic on Sept. 10, 2001, my first assignment was to photograph a two-vehicle non-injury accident that took place that afternoon. My newspaper thought it was very important to cover both injury and non-injury accidents. Later that year, we surveyed the readers. Imagine how shocked my publisher was to find out readers didn't like all the photographs of what they called "twisted metal" that appeared in the newspaper. Despite that reader input, my editor ordered me to cover such non-injury accidents for three years.
5. Journalists always have room for improvement when it comes to reporting and writing stories, and sometimes we need others to help us realize that. Sure, I received my share of angry phone calls from school principals and police detectives who didn't appreciate my balanced stories that held them accountable for their actions. But, I also received my share of phone calls from readers who thought I should have considered a different angle to a story or maybe used different sources. I never apologized to any of my sources or readers just because they didn't like a story that I knew was accurate. At the same time, I gave readers a chance to voice their opinions. Along the way, I realized that some readers made good points. There are sometimes ways to cover a story that for one reason or another we can't see. We just need someone to open our eyes, and readers can do that for us.
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