No, we haven't gone to "soft'' news!

Q. I know you have been experimenting with The Tribune. My wife and I have been subscribers forever. Recently we have been disappointed with the lifestyle/soft direction of the Tribune. But today's – Aug. 5 -- paper was wonderful with great local, state, national and international coverage. Use today's paper as a benchmark for future efforts. This is what a paper should look like.
-- Steve and Nancy Willison

A. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your views. It is our intent to do what we did Aug. 5 every day -- offer strong news coverage from our county as well as top state, national and world news. When we launched the newspaper changes in August, however, it was the middle of the California Mid-State Fair, which draws thousands of people daily, and a time when there wasn’t much major news occurring countywide. That’s often the case in August. So in addition to stories from the fair (both news and feature stories), we showcased our staff’s kayaking trip along the county’s coastline. Taken together, it appears that these stories gave readers the impression that we had gone “soft.’’ We have not.

Q. There seems to be less national and world news in the newspaper since you launched your new format. We need at least the same level of coverage that we had before.
-- A few subscribers

A. We have not changed the amount of national and world coverage that we offer. We strive to select stories from our wire services that add depth, texture and analysis to the news summaries found online or heard over the airwaves. Our goal is to add to what many people have already read online or heard on radio and TV, not merely repeat it. However, we are providing far less national entertainment and celebrity coverage than we used to; there’s plenty of news like that on TV and elsewhere, and I suspect you probably would applaud that decision!

-- Sandy Duerr