Frequently Asked Questions about the News Department
What is your purpose?
The purpose of the News & Record is to be the most used and most trusted source of news, information and dialogue in the communities we serve.What communities do you serve?
We primarily circulate in Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Alamance, Chatham and Davidson counties. We go where we need to go to cover the news that we think readers in those communities are interested in.Who decides what news and feature stories get in the paper?
Stories pour into the News & Record computers 24 hours a day. They come from our own reporters and from a variety of state and national wire services. Every afternoon, a variety of editors meet to discuss the news of the day and to decide which stories are most newsworthy or interesting to our readers. We consider several factors, including: how much the story will affect our readers; the importance of the story to the community; the relative interest of the story; the other stories competing for the same space; and the timeliness of the story.
Ultimately the news stories selected reflect the experience and judgments of editors.Sometimes headlines don’t seem to match what the story says. Why are headlines sometimes off the mark?
Headlines are written by editors, who read each story and attempt to distill its essence into a few words. Sometimes it is difficult to capture the meaning of the story in the few words available. Occasionally ambiguity is unintentionally included in a headline.
Headlines are not written by reporters. Because the headlines are written late in the evening, when the location and available space for the headline is determined, most reporters do not know what the headline says.I saw a story in my friend’s copy of the News & Record that wasn’t in mine. What’s up with that?
The News & Record publishes four editions. Readers in Randolph County, Rockingham County, High Point and Greensboro get different editions. Each edition is geared to the interests of readers in that specific geographic area. That is, a story pertaining to Asheboro will be prominently displayed in the Randolph edition. It will be replaced by a story from Greensboro or High Point in other editions. However, the News & Record believes that readers are interested in their neighbors, so much of the B section in the newspaper is filled with news from the Triad region.Is there a distinction between the editorial pages and the rest of the newspaper?
The News & Record prides itself on its independence. Advertisers, businesses and politicians do not influence news coverage or editorial philosophy. Neither does the editorial philosophy influence news coverage or vice versa.
The editor of the newspaper, John Robinson, is responsible for the news content of the entire newspaper, except the daily editorial page, the op-ed page and the Sunday Ideas section. Those are edited by Allen Johnson, the editorial page editor. Both Robinson and Johnson report to Van King, the president and publisher of the News & Record.
Robinson and Johnson rarely discuss news coverage with each other and never discuss editorial positions. It is inappropriate for either to involve himself in the other’s department.How do I comment on or complain about something in the paper?
There are essentially two avenues. You may call, write or e-mail the reporter who wrote the story or the editor. Or you may write a letter to the editor. The News & Record welcomes letters on topics of public interest. You must include your name, home street address and a daytime phone number. The maximum length is 250 words. All letters are subject to editing. We will not publish unsigned letters.By mail: Letters to the Editor, The News & Record, P.O. Box 20848, Greensboro, NC 27420
By fax: (336) 373-7067
By e-mail: edpage@news-record.comWhy does the News & Record make mistakes?
It pains us to make errors. We know that readers expect us to understand and practice the rules of spelling and grammar. But the News & Record is written and edited by human beings, who aren’t flawless. Some errors are caused by intense time pressures. Others are because a source gave us wrong information. Others, because we just weren’t thinking. Our policy is to correct our errors as soon as we can confirm the correct information.Why doesn’t the News & Record print corrections in the same place as the original story?
Corrections are run on page 2. Putting them in one place rather than where the original story ran gives readers a consistent place to look.Sometimes stories will say they will be continued on another page, but when I turn there, the rest of the story isn’t there. What’s happened?
Stories are moved around from edition to edition. Some stories appear in four different layouts each night. Occasionally, an editor will move the first part of the story, but will forget the second part. When that happens, we publish the entire story the next day.
Had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Bledsoe last night at the Barnes & Noble in Greensboro. And I'm delighted to have read in this week's Rhinocerous Times that he will now be a columnist for them... having previously spent several years as a columnist for the News & Record.
Started reading this book at midnight and finished at 5 a.m. Have been working on this review all day. It's a DARNED good book, not just about the fiasco that the News & Record created but Bledsoe does a remarkable job in presenting the material that was being taught in each class session.
I'm gonna go get a sandwich.