The Protagoras dictionary:
Thought·ful (thôt
f
l)
adj.
1. Boring
2. Kinder, gentler (see George H. W. Bush, one-termer)
Posted on 08/29/2005 12:39:06 PM PDT by Pikamax
My opinion David Stoeffler: Opinion pages get a makeover
More words. More letters. No more Ann Coulter.
Since my arrival here nine weeks ago, we've been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work aimed at making the Arizona Daily Star a better newspaper.
Today, we unveil some visible changes to your Opinion pages. More changes will come here and throughout the paper over the coming weeks and months.
First, the highlights of changes to the Opinion pages. Then a little about the process we're using to arrive at our plans.
When I first wrote to you as I assumed my duties here, I invited your comments about the paper.
Of an estimated 300 e-mails and letters, I'd guess one third or so have dealt with some aspect of the Opinion pages and a recent redesign.
Very few said you loved it. Some of you said you could leave it.
It's true enough that for some readers, the only way to win their hearts would be to reverse the longstanding editorial position of the newspaper on political and social issues.
But readers of all political persuasions said a redesign launched earlier this year on the Opinion pages had simply gone too far in emphasis on design. While strong visuals, including cartoons, can help pull readers into the pages, people ultimately turn to these pages for the commentary - ours, that of our local and syndicated columnists and that of other readers.
Beginning today, we're shifting the balance back toward more words. We'll still have photos and cartoons, but they will consistently run smaller. No more full-body photos of the letter-writer of the week or of people who contribute to our weekly highlights from local blogs.
The cartoons of David Fitzsimmons and others will run smaller - more similar to their size prior to the redesign. This will free up room for our two daily syndicated columnists, adding about 100 words to the average length of each column.
Fitz's Sunday "Tucson Boulevard" cartoon strip will move to Page 2 of the section each week, replacing his regular cartoon spot there. That will free up room for another columnist on the cover most Sundays. Sometimes, I'll have a column in this spot, but we're considering a variety of local and syndicated options for most weeks.
The design changes on the page opposite our editorial will mean more room for your letters. This was probably the No. 1 request of people who wrote to me. We've been publishing additional letters online, but now we'll get more of them into print, too.
Finally, we've decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.
Taking her place on Saturdays will be Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show," syndicated nationally on Fox News Radio, and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on Fox News Channel. He has worked at a number of daily newspapers and is a former speechwriter for former President George H.W. Bush.
We're also making a lineup change to the staffing of our Opinion pages. With the return of writer Sam Negri following a lengthy medical leave, Sarah Garrecht Gassen will resume her duties as a reporter on our Metro desk. Sarah will continue to coordinate Young Voices, the Friday roundup of opinion by local teens and young adults.
These changes are part of an overall effort to better serve our readers and improve our journalism.
Running a newspaper is something like building a three-legged stool.
We need to understand and satisfy a broad audience. Through a combination of market research and regular contact, we come to know what readers want.
We need a staff of reporters, photographers, artists, copy editors and others to gather and produce the content that meets the needs of those readers. Like any group of professionals, they do their best when they are engaged and excited about the direction of the organization. I've spent most of my time these past few weeks listening to them and getting them involved in building our future.
My role, and that of other top editors, is to serve as a catalyst to bring those readers and journalists together, to provide leadership and an overall vision.
With more or less equal legs, the newspaper can stand taller and reach higher.
As we make further changes, we'll keep you posted. Sometimes, I will write to explain our efforts. Other times, Reader Advocate Debbie Kornmiller will provide a guide to the remodeling or new features.
At all times, we welcome your feedback. You can write to me at the address below (or you'll find me listed every day on Page A2 of the paper). You'll also find Debbie's contact information there each day or with her regular Sunday column (on page H3 today).
Please let us know what you think.
David Stoeffler is publisher and editor of the Star. Contact him at dstoeffler@azstarnet.com or at P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726.
"Half the time Ann is brilliant and the other half sounds half nuts"
True or put another way half the time Ann is brilliant and half the time she is shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited.
I for one am not a huge Ann fan, sometimes she hits the nail on the head and other times she just rubs me the wrong way. She is never afraid to call it like she see it though, no matter whom she offends and I admire her for her forthrightness.
Modernman,I disagree with your characterization of her as a lightweight.
Many conservatives appreciate and like her, because she has shown the appropriate way we need to deal with liberals.
In the past, Conservatives have gotten their clock cleaned in the court of public opinion, and have ceded the high ground to the liberals because we didn't want to be mean to them, offend them, or cause them to label us.
We never challenged them on thier policies towards the poor, because we were afraid they would label us "racist" and call us "mean spirited".
We never challenged their patriotism or love of country, because we didn't want to be "McCarthyites".
We never called them on their economic policies, because they would label us "The Party of the Rich" and accuse us of being in bed with corporate America.
And for all those years, they walked all over the conservatives, and we let them through our own weakness. We were too timid to speak out on behalf of our own beliefs, to point out the truth that the economic policies of the Democrats have damned generations of minorities to a lower standard of living. We were too nice to point out whose policies are really racist.
We were too polite to point out that the left in America is the party that has aligned itself with dictators and communist governments around the world and was responsible for some of the worst damage done to this country.
It has been long past the time for conservatives to stand up up to the left. Ann has shown us the right way, speak the truth, back it up by facts, and forget about whether they "like" us or not. They don't, so we better just get used to it and do what is right.
Ann Coulter is no lightweight. She may not be on the same level as Krauthammer, Schalafly or Will, but she is sharp, knows how to back up her arguments with facts, and isn't afraid of being called names.
That is why conservatives like her, not because she is an sinewy lanky hard looking blonde woman with a razor for a brain and a talent for being impolite to liberals by telling them the truth, something they don't want to hear. Those characteristics are just icing on the cake.
Coulter is red meat. Snow is pablum.
Either that or the Conservatives who love to kill their wounded so that they can complain about how liberals take over.
Bunch of them live here.
Thanks, did not think of that Duhhhh :)
I generally like her but sometimes it is hard to take her seriously. But there are few I rate above her and am sure this editor is just being a weasel. Few real conservatives would write and complain about her even if they didn't like something. Knowing that she could be replaced by a 100% Liar/Idiot.
Tont Snow is a fine writer and a fine conservative whose columns will, not doubt, grace the paper's pages. His more subtle efforts would, in fact, make a fine complement to Ann Coulter's biting ( and often brilliant) commentary. But there is an obvious quota system at this second-rate rag. Only one conservative viewpoint is permitted. Dare I wonder how many virulent leftists are featured on its opinion page?
No offense...Ann quotes little phrases that satisfy some here. But Tony is the BEST.
PS, you left the "less" off your ending. LOL
I just wrote him. I'll let you know if I get a response. As follows:
You dropped Ann because folks identifying themselves as Conservatives complained?
It has been typical for a very long time for liberals to call radio shows and write newspapers saying they are conservatives to complain about conservatives and they have been caught frequently.
I'd bet you money that if you were to check out the people that actually emailed you, you'd find out they voted the other way. Might be a learning experience for you.
Now since you believe those folks that complained were really conservatives, question for you, do you believe that 99.87% of the Iraqi people really voted for Hussam last time?
HOW TO either:
A. Kill your papaer
or Guarantee that Only libs will read it.
Dis Ann Coulter.
What this guy did was a "quick draw" followed by a shot from the hip, directly into his foot.
No offense taken!
But I respectfully disagree. I'm not interested in persuading the Left...or even the Middle. I want someone who will rally the Right while sticking a finger in the eye of our opposition.
I don;t see Tony Snow doing that, with all due respect.
Tony, Tony, Tony... If I were you and a liberal POS windbag like this Stoeffler said he preferred me to Ann, I'd be insulted that he regarded me as his safe little token conservative. I'd be ticked off because in effect he'd be calling me a RINO, and lastly, I'd get shrill like he never heard Ann get shrill before.
C'mon, Tony... don't let this leftwing clown turn you into his tame little pet RINO!
The Protagoras dictionary:
Thought·ful (thôtfl)
adj.
1. Boring
2. Kinder, gentler (see George H. W. Bush, one-termer)
We'll see how he holds up when the inevitable barrage of "I'm a lifelong conservative Republican who goes to church three times a day and never misses a Klan meeting, and even I find Tony Snow to be bombastic, shrill and mean-spirited!" letters start burying his desk and flooding his e-mail inbox. The leftists will no doubt figure they've got him on the run and will keep pressing until all conservative opinion is expunged from the paper.
But does she really lie as much?
Stoeffler, 46, joined Lee in 1979 as a part-time reporter at the La Crosse Tribune in Wisconsin. After graduating from Viterbo University in La Crosse, he worked for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison for 14 years, rising to city editor, where he twice led teams that won the prestigious Inland Press Association Community Service Award. He returned to La Crosse as editor in 1995 and advanced to be editor of the Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska in 1997, where he served until his current appointment in 2001. He is a two-time winner of a Lee President's Award, the highest honor in the company. He has been active in state and national journalism organizations, including serving three years as chairman of Media of Nebraska and helping the group successfully lobby for an expansion of the state's open records laws.
During his time in Madison, La Crosse and Lincoln, Stoeffler was active in various community groups and education initiatives. He and his wife, Rose, have a daughter, Christine, who lives in Wisconsin.
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