This note brightened my day and I wanted to share it with you.
Best, Ben
-v-
Ben Holden
Vice President & Executive Editor
Ledger-Enquirer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Sarah Briggs [mailto:sarah1960@ohio.usa.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 11:22 AM
To: CLE - Soundoff
Cc: vcanepca@ledg-ernquirer.com; Holden, Ben - Columbus; Nix, Dusty - Columbus; Owen, Mike - Columbus
Subject: The L-E
I've lived in cities like Dayton, Jacksonville, Orlando, Sioux City, Little Rock and even Dallas
and none of the newspapers in those cities could match the Ledger-Enquirer.
I feel very grateful to have such a high calibre periodical to inform and entertain me each
morning. Count your blessings.
Sarah
If there are two many cities in my Sound Off take some out.
Note: I love the columnists like Brad Barnes and Larry Gierer and Dusty Nix' editorials
are among the best I have read. I also love Sound Off, the editorial page, Jumble
and the crossword puzzle that is the best I have seen. The only thing I strongly
dislike is the TV section on Sunday. Just very small townish. Embarrassing.
I won't allow out of town visitors to see it laying out. Surely you can improve it.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The real celebrities
When a celebrity is ill, they get lots of attention, but the real
celebrities are the strength of our community. Here's a note from
Gabriele Azhar about her mother, Charlotte Osterburg.
Dear Mr. Holden:
My mother, Charlotte Osterburg, lived in Columbus from 1957 until we
relocated to Florida in October 2006. Mother was very active in the
community and frequently graced the pages of your paper. She retired as
the Programs Officer of the International Training Detachment at Fort
Benning which involved going into the community to interest people in
sponsoring the foreign officers attending various courses, a job she
loved and excelled at. Mother was the first woman Kiwanian in town and
headed the International Relations Committee. She was a Page One judge
in foreign languages as well as participating in many foreign language
events at Columbus State University. During his tenure, Gov. George
Busbee made her an honorary lieutenant colonel for her efforts in
fostering good foreign relations in Columbus. Mother was also a
Gracious Lady of Georgia.
Most important to Mother was the love felt for this country. We
immigrated from Germany in 1957, and there was no prouder American than
Mother.
If you would like to have additional information, please contact me.
Thank you for your consideration.
Gabriele (Gaby) Osterburg Azhar
celebrities are the strength of our community. Here's a note from
Gabriele Azhar about her mother, Charlotte Osterburg.
Dear Mr. Holden:
My mother, Charlotte Osterburg, lived in Columbus from 1957 until we
relocated to Florida in October 2006. Mother was very active in the
community and frequently graced the pages of your paper. She retired as
the Programs Officer of the International Training Detachment at Fort
Benning which involved going into the community to interest people in
sponsoring the foreign officers attending various courses, a job she
loved and excelled at. Mother was the first woman Kiwanian in town and
headed the International Relations Committee. She was a Page One judge
in foreign languages as well as participating in many foreign language
events at Columbus State University. During his tenure, Gov. George
Busbee made her an honorary lieutenant colonel for her efforts in
fostering good foreign relations in Columbus. Mother was also a
Gracious Lady of Georgia.
Most important to Mother was the love felt for this country. We
immigrated from Germany in 1957, and there was no prouder American than
Mother.
If you would like to have additional information, please contact me.
Thank you for your consideration.
Gabriele (Gaby) Osterburg Azhar
Monday, July 7, 2008
To our Readers:
As you know, journalists nationwide are in the midst of a struggle to re-make the newspaper business in the wake of profound change. Here are the thoughts of Howard Weaver, Vice President for News at our parent company, The McClatchy Co.
Howard Weaver's Blog
Howard Weaver's Blog
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Here's an email request I recently received and my reply:
Mr. (Deleted):
Thank you for your note. Our policy at the newspaper is to disclose race whenever it is part of a substantive description of the person being sought. As a practical matter, this means race plus two other factors, such as approximate age, height and weight. We do not print race when it is the only known factor other than gender.
In other words, we would not print that the alleged criminal was a "white female" (in the Chattahoochee Valley, that description merely narrows the hunt from more than 150,000 women to still more than 80,000 women). On the other hand, if the police are looking for a "white woman, about 5-foot-six and 125 pounds," we would (and do) print this information.
There is one exception to this rule, which serves to get more descriptions into the newspaper. That is this: if the suspect has an "immutable" or unchangeable characteristic such as a visible scar or a tattoo, we print the description, even if we have no other meaningful information beyond race.
Thank you for your concerns about our reporting standards.
Best regards, Ben
From: (Name Deleted)
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:57 AM
To: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus
Subject: police news
I would like to know why Sara Pauff does not include a better description of the thugs who are mentioned in the local police section today. Gunman, partner invade apartment, and clerk struggles with armed robber! In both cases descriptions are given outside of race. It would be nice to know if we are in danger of these folks and they are white, black, or Hispanic. How are we to look for them and describe them if we don't know there race! Please do a better job at editing your folks, thank you for your time.
Thank you for your note. Our policy at the newspaper is to disclose race whenever it is part of a substantive description of the person being sought. As a practical matter, this means race plus two other factors, such as approximate age, height and weight. We do not print race when it is the only known factor other than gender.
In other words, we would not print that the alleged criminal was a "white female" (in the Chattahoochee Valley, that description merely narrows the hunt from more than 150,000 women to still more than 80,000 women). On the other hand, if the police are looking for a "white woman, about 5-foot-six and 125 pounds," we would (and do) print this information.
There is one exception to this rule, which serves to get more descriptions into the newspaper. That is this: if the suspect has an "immutable" or unchangeable characteristic such as a visible scar or a tattoo, we print the description, even if we have no other meaningful information beyond race.
Thank you for your concerns about our reporting standards.
Best regards, Ben
From: (Name Deleted)
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:57 AM
To: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus
Subject: police news
I would like to know why Sara Pauff does not include a better description of the thugs who are mentioned in the local police section today. Gunman, partner invade apartment, and clerk struggles with armed robber! In both cases descriptions are given outside of race. It would be nice to know if we are in danger of these folks and they are white, black, or Hispanic. How are we to look for them and describe them if we don't know there race! Please do a better job at editing your folks, thank you for your time.
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