Questions You've Raised
Jim Pumarlo welcomes your questions. Click here to submit your question and receive a response.
What are some ways to inject new voices and new ideas on our editorial page?
One avenue is to spotlight an issue each month by inviting two individuals to write a point/counterpoint on the topic. Some issues, such as school levy referendums, are natural for opposing editorial perspectives. Other issues that are likely covered in the news pages are candidates for points/counterpoints as well Đ for example, proposals for a highway bypass or riverfront development, incentives for economic development, revisions to rental housing codes.
This is also an opportunity for newspapers to supplement limited newsroom resources and give exposure to issues that may not receive regular news coverage.
Recent Writing
Interviewing candidates: Never a stupid question
Categorized under:Publishers' Auxiliary/May 2008
All editors and reporters likely remember interviewing for their first job. What were the toughest and most meaningful questions – the ones that afforded an opportunity to distinguish you from the other applicants? Which questions prompted a simple “yes” or “no” answer, and which ones gave your prospective boss an inside look of who you are, and what you’d bring to the table?
'Paid' letters raise many questions
Categorized under:Publishers’ Auxiliary/April 2008
A Minnesota newspaper publisher generated national headlines when he started charging 5 cents a word for letters to the editor that endorse a candidate. He was frustrated with the orchestrated letter-writing that has become standard fare among political campaigns - a challenge facing many editors as the 2008 elections approach.
Time to shed brighter light on government proceedings
Categorized under:Distributed as a guest editorial by the Minnesota Newspaper Association in observance of Sunshine Week, March 16-22, 2008
Minnesotans’ everyday lives are affected by the decisions of governing bodies. A school board decides to close a school. A city council sets parameters for business incentives. A county board regulates where feedlots may be located. State legislators debate tax policy.
How to handle candidates’ letter-writing campaigns
Categorized under:The Inlander/ March 1, 2008
Editors take great pride when they know their newspapers are “making a difference.” A strong barometer is the editorial page, and specifically letters to the editor. So why do so many editors stifle the exchange of ideas during the months-long election season?
The volume of letters indeed increases dramatically with orchestrated campaigns. At the same time, letters reflect a basic mission of newspapers: To get people to think and share their ideas.
Reporting on both the good and bad of prep sports
Categorized under:The Inlander/ Feb. 1, 2008Â
The suspension of high school athletes is newsworthy, especially when it affects a game's outcome.
Newspapers also can make a case that by identifying the disciplined youths, they are looking out for their best welfare – though that may not be immediately recognized by students, parents or coaches.
Consider these recent examples:
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
Seminar endorsements
Categorized under:
Jim Pumarlo has a knack for bringing newspaper ethics out of the clouds and onto Main Street. He presents real-world ethical issues with great clarity and insight and helps editors and reporters make sound decisions that actually make sense to their readers.
Tom Linthicum
Seminar Associate
American Press Institute
Alexandria, VA
