Behind the Headlines

Since the Iraq war began, Herald-Leader journalists have tried to bring the story home to Kentucky readers. They have covered deployments and reunions and chronicled the anxious months in between. They have written about the sacrifices of brave Kentucky soldiers and Marines killed in action and those who returned home with deep physical and emotional scars.

Recently, reporter Barbara Isaacs and photographer Janet Worne have been telling a different kind of war story.  They have been following Waghdan Aljayashee, a 12-year-old Iraqi girl who has come here for treatment of terrible burns she received nearly three years ago when she was caught in the crossfire of battle.  Kentuckians have welcomed Waghdan into their homes and hearts — and shown her a thing or two about American culture.

On Sunday’s front page, the latest installment of this story reports on the painful and complicated surgery Waghdan received recently at Cincinnati Shriners Hospital — surgery that will give her the chance for a more normal life.  Throughout this series, Barb and Janet have told a story of love and hope that transcends the barriers of culture, language and geography.  We’d like to hear what you think about it.

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor

What is it about animal stories?  They’re hardly the fare of traditional journalism, but readers seem to love them.  In today’s Communities section, we had a story about the Lexington Animal Blood Bank.  On Tuesday, the Health & Family section featured a woman who does massage on dogs and horses.  (And as I sit at my computer writing this, CNN is showing a report about people along the Gulf Coast who are finding pets who went missing during Hurricane Katrina.)

Not convinced?  The Herald Readers Book Club event last month at Joseph Beth Booksellers was the biggest yet; more that 400 people came to see John Grogan, author of "Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog."  And when our features staff solicited "pet personals" from readers for Valentine’s Day, they received nearly 100.

If there’s a lesson here, it’s that newspaper editors must always be looking for unconventional stories and topics that will interest readers, even if they don’t always involve big, important, serious news.  So what kinds of stories would you like to see more often in the Herald-Leader?  Send your suggestions.

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor

Our newest reporter, Scott Sloan, deserves kudos for taking on a potentially treacherous assignment — writing about the possible sale of his employer, the Herald-Leader, and its corporate parent, Knight Ridder.

Despite their eagerness to dig into the closely held business secrets of other corporations, newspapers as an industry have been inexplicably wary of writing about their own internal affairs during a turbulent period of sales, swaps, closings and Draconian cutbacks.

Sloan, who has a master’s degree in business from the University of Kentucky, took on the assignment with all the zeal and skepticism that he might apply to an in-depth look at any major Lexington employer. He asked tough questions of the Herald-Leader’s publisher, Tim Kelly, and the editor. He pressed for answers from Knight Ridder’s corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif. He examined Securities and Exchange Commission filings, talked to analysts and other industry experts and worked long nights with Business Editor Todd Wethall to put together the package in Sunday’s newspaper.

Why did we feel that this was an important story for our readers? Since November, rumors have been swirling locally and nationally about the possible sale of Knight Ridder and what it might mean for the company’s 32 newspapers. Because it is a publicly traded company subject to SEC regulation, Knight Ridder officials could not discuss what they called an “exploration of strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale. We knew that several local parties had made inquiries about buying the Herald-Leader, but no details emerged. With concern, some residents asked whether the Herald-Leader might go out of business. That is certainly not the case. Under any scenario, Lexington’s local newspaper will continue to publish.

We believed readers would benefit from knowing a little more about our business and the pressures that have affected the product. Long before November, readers began to notice cutbacks in space for different sections of the newspapers. We got complaints about trims in our stock tables, a cutback in the size of the Opinions & Ideas section and the revised TV book. Fewer reporters were on hand to cover stories throughout the region, and the number of editors available to read and check their copy had declined.

We began to realize that while our staff knew the reasons for these cost-saving measures, the average reader had little idea how our industry was coping with cataclysmic change. All they knew was that the product they were buying was different — and sometimes, disappointing.

We hope that Sloan’s story offers not just an explanation for some of the changes you’ve been seeing but a primer on an industry that is rapidly evolving. Our ability to adapt and to look creatively at the challenges will ensure that the Herald-Leader continues to be a strong voice of local news.

Marilyn Thompson
Editor