Questions You've Raised
Jim Pumarlo welcomes your questions. Click here to submit your question and receive a response.
Questions You've Raised
Categorized under:
We received a letter to the editor criticizing the high prices and poor service at a local food chain. The letter urges local action. Would you publish?
It’s a slippery slope to open your letters column to criticism of businesses. A couple of points on enforcing such a policy:
Questions You've Raised
Categorized under:We received a letter to the editor criticizing the high prices and poor service at a local food chain. The letter urges local action. Would you publish?
It’s a slippery slope to open your letters column to criticism of businesses. A couple of points on enforcing such a policy:
Recent Writing
Look beyond the immediate news, and stay relevant
Categorized under:Publishers' Auxiliary/April 2013
Many newspapers do a great job of looking in the rearview mirror, and that used to be adequate for inviting readers into their pages. The old formula doesn’t work anymore if community newspapers are to remain relevant. The changing media landscape, coupled with the demands on readers’ time, require that newsrooms pay just as much attention looking ahead and around as to looking back.
Let me explain.
An endorsement for newspaper endorsements
Categorized under:The Inlander/March 2013
The 2012 elections are in the rearview mirror, and newly elected lawmakers have settled into their routines. For most editors and reporters, the next cycle of elections is likely out of mind.
Use your platform to educate, preview - and apologize
Categorized under:Publishers’ Auxiliary/February 2013
A reader questions your policy for reporting suicides. A local retailer challenges your staff to produce timely and relevant business news. A reporter is confronted for printing a press release charging a candidate with unfair campaign practices without contacting the accused for a response.
All of these scenarios are excellent topics for newsroom discussion. And most editors will likely respond directly to the individuals who raise the questions.
Elections are over – so keep covering them
Categorized under:The Inlander/December 2012
The 2012 elections are in the rearview mirror. Newly elected lawmakers will soon assume their duties, and newsrooms are returning to normalcy, however that is defined these days. For most editors and reporters, the next cycle of elections is the farthest thing from their minds.
Not so quick.
Dos and don’ts for the election countdown
Categorized under:Publishers’ Auxiliary/October 2012
Don’t fear. The exhausting election season is nearing an end. Your newsrooms are soon to return to normalcy – still chaotic, but at least a little more organized.
Elections are one of the most scrutinized areas of coverage, especially if newspapers have a strong editorial voice. Editors and reporters are well aware of the political passions – just log your phone calls, e-mails and visits from candidates as well as their supporters and detractors.
What They're Saying
Election coverage a must for all papers
Categorized under:Publishers Auxiliary/October 2007
Jim Pumarlo has it right when he says election coverage is “among the most demanding tasks in any newsroom.” That’s true no matter what size newsroom, so his practical guide to covering elections, “Votes and Quotes,” from Marion Street Press, should be a useful addition to most editors’ desks.
Pumarlo encourages consistency, endorsements
Categorized under:The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors Newsletter/September/October 2007
Whether you believe you’re doing it right or whether you fear you might be doing it wrong, Jim Pumarlo’s latest book “Votes and Quotes” is worth reading if you want to give your readers solid campaign and election news and opinion.
Book endorsements
Categorized under:
Anyone who has edited or published a community newspaper knows the most challenging and, often, agonizing part of the job is dealing with sensitive issues. I dealt with many issues like this during my career as an editor, and wished there was some type of guidance available, not only for the decision to go or not go with the story, but for developing and explaining the policy behind the decision when the inevitable wrath of a few or more readers loomed after the paper hit the newsstands. Now, there is a book that not only advises hometown newspaper editors about the process of handling sensitive stories, but also provides invaluable sample policies that cover everything from delicate subjects such as suicides, to more common content such as weddings and obituaries.
Ken Blum
Black Ink, e-mail Newsletter for Community Papers
