-----Original Message-----
From: Holden, Ben - Columbus
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:58 PM
To: 'Ken Clark'
Cc: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus
Subject: Newspapering
Ken:
Ironic, huh? I have a standing rule against putting the D-Word (as in Depression) in a headline, but sometimes the news just seems to justify a full-throated scream. I'll take a look at it and see if we need to dial it back. Thanks for the note. Best, Ben
-v-
Ben Holden
Executive Editor
Ledger-Enquirer
(706) 571-8560 - Phone
(706) 576-6290 - Fax
www.ledger-enquirer.com
bholden@ledger-enquirer.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Clark [mailto:kenclark75@pstel.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 6:07 PM
To: Holden, Ben - Columbus
Cc: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus
Subject: Newspapering
Ben, a couple of days ago you wrote an excellent column pointing out that now is the time to remain cool and not panic where the economy is concerned. Did you forget to show it to your headline writers?
Would still like to have that lunch at some point.
Ken Clark
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
There You Go Again
Mr. and Ms. Backman:
Thank you for your note. We get this complaint fairly routinely -- balanced of course, by complaints from many in our community who believe we go overboard with race-based reporting and in fact place the faces of minority criminal defendants in prominent display for improper reasons. As the editor, of course, my job is to defend against not just bias or "political correctness" but also the perception of both.
That said, because this issue seems to be of great importance to you, I assume you merely missed the following recent examples of our cops reporting doing exactly what you claim we don't do:
1. Today's paper, Page A6: "The suspect is described as a black man, age 20-30, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 220 pounds.
2. Yesterday's paper, Page A4: "The suspect is described as a black man, standing 6-foot-2, weighing 190 pounds and wearing a a black, sleveless T-shirt, black pants and a black ski mask."
3. Thursday Oct. 2, Page A5: "The suspect is described as a 5-foot-7 inch to 5-foot 9-inch black man in his 20s."
Our policy is to include descriptions of race as part of descriptions that may help police catch criminals and protect citizens. When we have a description we print it. Our standard is two visible characteristics plus race, or one really unique and visible one plus race. "The suspect was white" is not a description in my view. You may disagree, which is OK by me.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get back to the mailroom.
Ben
-v-
Ben Holden
Vice President & Executive Editor
Ledger-Enquirer
(706) 571-8560 - Phone
(706) 576-6290 - Fax
www.ledger-enquirer.com
bholden@ledger-enquirer.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Vada [mailto:vbackman@mchsi.com]
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:43 PM
To: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus; Riquelmy, Alan - Columbus; Holden, Ben - Columbus
Subject: There you go again...
You guys really need to be taken to the woodshed on this one. Did any of you attend Journalism
School or did you work your way up from the mailroom? When identifying a suspect in a crime, RACE is integral to a description of the suspect. It is not racist to identify the race of a suspect. Race is a FACT. Racial identification could prevent an innocent person from being falsely arrested. If dark clothing and dark sunglasses are important...so is dark skin...or light skin. Honestly, I have seen this so many times before in your paper...I am not letting it go this time. If I saw someone with silver teeth and contacted the police, I would feel horrible if I incorrectly fingered a suspect of the wrong color. In the words of Sgt. Joe Friday..."Just the facts, Ma'am." Stop letting YOUR racial sensitivities interfere with reporting the news.
Vada and George Backman
-v-
HERE'S THE STORY:
A late night run to the border Sunday turned into an armed robbery at a Taco Bell.
The robbery happened when a man pulled into the drive-thru at 2:18 a.m. in a small, dark car with blue neon lighting inside, said Columbus Police Sgt. Frank Massa. The driver ordered some food from the 3527 Macon Road restaurant and then pulled up to the window.
"When he got to the window to pay for it, and the guy opened the register, that's when he robbed him," Massa said.
The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, wearing dark clothes, dark sunglasses and having silver teeth (Ed note: Red highlight emphasis was added by emailer). He had some type of handgun, Massa said.
"No injuries reported, and no shots fired," the sergeant added.
Alan Riquelmy
Thank you for your note. We get this complaint fairly routinely -- balanced of course, by complaints from many in our community who believe we go overboard with race-based reporting and in fact place the faces of minority criminal defendants in prominent display for improper reasons. As the editor, of course, my job is to defend against not just bias or "political correctness" but also the perception of both.
That said, because this issue seems to be of great importance to you, I assume you merely missed the following recent examples of our cops reporting doing exactly what you claim we don't do:
1. Today's paper, Page A6: "The suspect is described as a black man, age 20-30, standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 220 pounds.
2. Yesterday's paper, Page A4: "The suspect is described as a black man, standing 6-foot-2, weighing 190 pounds and wearing a a black, sleveless T-shirt, black pants and a black ski mask."
3. Thursday Oct. 2, Page A5: "The suspect is described as a 5-foot-7 inch to 5-foot 9-inch black man in his 20s."
Our policy is to include descriptions of race as part of descriptions that may help police catch criminals and protect citizens. When we have a description we print it. Our standard is two visible characteristics plus race, or one really unique and visible one plus race. "The suspect was white" is not a description in my view. You may disagree, which is OK by me.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get back to the mailroom.
Ben
-v-
Ben Holden
Vice President & Executive Editor
Ledger-Enquirer
(706) 571-8560 - Phone
(706) 576-6290 - Fax
www.ledger-enquirer.com
bholden@ledger-enquirer.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Vada [mailto:vbackman@mchsi.com]
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:43 PM
To: Canepa, Valerie - Columbus; Riquelmy, Alan - Columbus; Holden, Ben - Columbus
Subject: There you go again...
You guys really need to be taken to the woodshed on this one. Did any of you attend Journalism
School or did you work your way up from the mailroom? When identifying a suspect in a crime, RACE is integral to a description of the suspect. It is not racist to identify the race of a suspect. Race is a FACT. Racial identification could prevent an innocent person from being falsely arrested. If dark clothing and dark sunglasses are important...so is dark skin...or light skin. Honestly, I have seen this so many times before in your paper...I am not letting it go this time. If I saw someone with silver teeth and contacted the police, I would feel horrible if I incorrectly fingered a suspect of the wrong color. In the words of Sgt. Joe Friday..."Just the facts, Ma'am." Stop letting YOUR racial sensitivities interfere with reporting the news.
Vada and George Backman
-v-
HERE'S THE STORY:
A late night run to the border Sunday turned into an armed robbery at a Taco Bell.
The robbery happened when a man pulled into the drive-thru at 2:18 a.m. in a small, dark car with blue neon lighting inside, said Columbus Police Sgt. Frank Massa. The driver ordered some food from the 3527 Macon Road restaurant and then pulled up to the window.
"When he got to the window to pay for it, and the guy opened the register, that's when he robbed him," Massa said.
The suspect is described as a man in his 20s, wearing dark clothes, dark sunglasses and having silver teeth (Ed note: Red highlight emphasis was added by emailer). He had some type of handgun, Massa said.
"No injuries reported, and no shots fired," the sergeant added.
Alan Riquelmy
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Reader Loves the Ledger
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.
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.
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.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Frequent feedback
I get a lot of correspondence in this job. Some very kind and thoughtful, some less so. Most of it is focused on something we didn't get quite right, or on something somebody wants us to put in the paper.
The string of emails that follows illustrates the kind of feedback I get each day, and one typical response. The lesson here, I hope, is the folks at the newspaper are all very busy and we are trying our best to cover a community of more than 300,000 with less than 50 journalists. But if you come at it the right way, you can frequently get exactly what you want. . . Or as my mama always said: "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Ben Holden
Executive Editor
The string of emails that follows illustrates the kind of feedback I get each day, and one typical response. The lesson here, I hope, is the folks at the newspaper are all very busy and we are trying our best to cover a community of more than 300,000 with less than 50 journalists. But if you come at it the right way, you can frequently get exactly what you want. . . Or as my mama always said: "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
Ben Holden
Executive Editor
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