Monthly Archive for April, 2006

We Welcome Visitors From Near and Far

Published
by
Peter Baniak
on April 14, 2006
in News
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We often have visitors in the Herald-Leader newsroom, and this week we had two interesting groups. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 Russian-speaking newspaper journalists from former Soviet republics spent time with us during a week-long stay at the University of Kentucky as part of the Edward R. Murrow Program.  This program, sponsored by the State Department, brings foreign journalists to this country to learn about the U.S. news media.  (Another seven broadcast journalists also were part of the group at UK, and they spent time at Lexington television stations.) 

On Thursday, about 40 members of the 2006 Leadership Lexington class spent the morning with us as part of the program’s annual Media Day.  Leadership Lexington, sponsored by Commerce Lexington, is a year-long program that exposes emerging and newly relocated leaders of business and non-profit organizations to the many aspects of our community.

The Russian-speaking journalists, who talked with us mostly through interpreters, had a lot of nuts-and-bolts questions. What are we doing to attract young readers?  How do we decide what stories to cover? What is our planning process?  But they were also curious about our freedom from government censorship, and how we cover government and politics.  We realized we shared many common issues, problems and goals.  Except the leaders of some of their governments could still put them in jail for what they publish.

The Leadership Lexington class members represented a good cross-section of our city readership. They met with Publisher Tim Kelly, Editor Marilyn Thompson and me, Editorial Page Editor Vanessa Gallman, editorial columnist Larry Dale Keeling, editorial cartoonist Joel Pett, pop culture writer Jamie Gumbrecht and sports columnist Mark Story.  They asked a lot of great questions.

As journalists, we love to discuss what we do and why we do it, debate issues and hear what readers think.  Many people have questions and strong opinions — plus a few misconceptions — about how the Herald-Leader covers news, and especially about how the editorial board and Opinion pages work.

If you would like to ask your own questions, please contact us.  We also welcome visitors, by appointment, to attend our morning news meeting, where we talk about story ideas and what’s coming for the next day’s paper.

Tom Eblen
Managing Editor

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Where Do Story Ideas Come From?

Published
by
Peter Baniak
on April 7, 2006
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Alex2
Readers often ask how we come across ideas for stories. In a two-part series, How Did Alex Weathers Die?, which began today and continues Sunday, we explore the story of a 29-year-old Lexington man living in New Orleans who died just days after Hurricane Katrina. Here’s how Herald-Leader reporter Linda B. Blackford became interested in pursuing the story:

"One of the good things about having a 9-month-old baby who wakes up at 5:30 every morning is that I have time to read the paper very closely. So, on Feb. 21, I noticed the obituary of a very young man who had died Sept. 5 in New Orleans. The notice didn’t give a cause of death, but it was obvious it had happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The obituary’s heartfelt description of Alex Weathers — ‘Alex was known for his gentle demeanor, wicked sense of humor, unique perspective and intelligence’ — made him sound fascinating, so I wanted to know more.

"Later that day, the newsroom had a meeting of its writing group and we talked about narrative stories and how to find them. I asked if anyone else had seen the obit, and our editor, Marilyn Thompson, had. She encouraged me to pursue the story, so I took it to my boss, enterprise editor Sharon Walsh, who gave me the go-ahead. Alex’s memorial service was that night, so I contacted Melissa Smith, one of the friends listed in the obituary. She asked me not to attend the service, but said she would be willing to talk to me a few days later. I later met Melissa and her mother, Yolanda Davis, who agreed to let me follow her to New Orleans in pursuit of answers to Alex’s death."

The Herald-Leader is a small paper, but we’re always looking for interesting stories that show the impact of national and international events on an individual life. We sent Linda and photographer David Stephenson to New Orleans to see what it was like to go to that still dysfunctional city looking for answers about one Lexington man’s death. Through their stories and photographs in the newspaper and online, we hope you felt that you could see it, too.

Sharon Walsh
Enterprise Editor

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Preparing for Election Endorsements

Published
by
Peter Baniak
on April 4, 2006
in Uncategorized
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The Herald-Leader editorial board has begun meeting with candidates in the May 16 primary to aid in our endorsement decisions. Endorsements are a long tradition in newspapering that we believe enhances interest and participation in the civic process. The newspaper has unusual access to candidates and their backgrounds, and we believe part of the newspaper’s responsibility as a community institution is to help citizens sort through campaign issues and rhetoric.

A Herald-Leader endorsement represents the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board, which has eight members.  It has no bearing on how news reporters cover the races, or how editors make news decisions.

The editorial page also publishes letters, of no more than 150 words, from readers who support particular candidates. Letters from candidates’ family members and campaign staffers are not published. Neither are form letters. (For other letters to the editor policies, click here.  To send a letter, click here.)

Candidates who took time to meet with the editorial board but did not get our endorsement are allowed space in the paper to explain why they should be elected.

Vanessa Gallman
Editorial Page Editor

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