A few months back I wrote a blog about a front cover story we ran in My Bushey News.
I was defending our right to publish a story about a local man convicted of child porn offences.
It received a mixed reaction on social media. Some felt it was too strong for a free, locally delivered magazine.
Others felt it was important to know about this sort of thing happening locally and that it was in the local interest.
I felt we were right in our decision to cover it on our lead page.
However, last month we made an editorial decision in My Pinner News which with hindsight we got wrong.
The story was about a local man convicted of rape. Our headline and coverage was over the top. If we had a chance to run the article again I would not have had it on the front cover and would have toned down the copy without losing the impact of what a heinous crime this was.
We read a lot of critical comments on social media about the article and held an editorial meeting.
What came out of the meeting was a decision to be far more mindful of our readership.
In the 150 mile per hour world of a busy news room some snap decisions are made. I’d like to think my team get them right the vast majority of the time but in this case we didn’t.
And for that we apologise.
Another thing came out of the meeting and that was we need to share more of the good news happening across all of our areas.
For that to happen consistently we need our readers help.
We do listen as I hope the above has proved. And we really do want to hear what’s happening in your neighbourhood.
It has always been the ethos of My News to report all aspects of community life, the good and the bad.
But I’m aware we need to keep listening to our readers and start putting smiles back on their faces as well as keeping them informed.
Thanks for reading.
Nik
0 Comments