A look forward, and back, at our year of news coverage

As 2007 fades and 2008 rushes in, I’m taking a time out from readers’ specific questions to write more generally about The Tribune’s news coverage, both looking forward and to the recent past.
If you take nothing else from my commentary today, I hope you will remember this: In all of our reporting efforts in The Tribune and at www.SanLuisObispo.com , we strive to be as fair and balanced as is humanly possible.
Our first and foremost goal is to facilitate our democracy –to thoroughly cover the decisions and debates among our elected representatives, and to give voice to those who have none. We strive to offer diverse ideas and opinions, and to make sure there is robust debate.
We’re acutely aware that every day, when our presses turn and when we make another update on our Web site, we have an opportunity to make a positive difference in the life of San Luis Obispo County. We can shed light on complicated topics, reveal actions that some people would prefer never see the light of day, and call attention to the many men and women who work diligently to make this county a better place to live.
The coming year promises to be a turning point for the country – some key decisions must be made on the war on terror, and, of course, much of that will be affected by what will surely be a hard-fought presidential campaign. You can count on us to keep you informed on those developments.
Locally, the political scene promises to be intense as well. Three of the county’s five supervisors are up for re-election. Two of them – Harry Ovitt and Jerry Lenthall – face stiff competition from announced candidates, and the third, Jim Patterson, expects to face a credible challenger.
We promise to provide comprehensive coverage of the local campaigns as well as the national campaigns, plus other key issues that emerge. Already, you can access our local election reporting and Washington bureau coverage on our Web site, www.SanLuisObispo.com. Just click on the Election box on the right hand side of our home page.
We know that San Luis Obispo County, while a cohesive region in many respects, is fundamentally a collection of distinctive communities that have carved out unique personalities through the years.
As in the past, the top issue that we will address in 2008 is growth and development. How the county and the various city governments handle economic development issues remains, in our minds, the most important topic we can cover as it affects everyone’s daily lives in ways big and small – from traffic congestion, to the ability of our schools to maintain their relatively high quality of education, to where we shop and how our cities will finance government services.
That means you can expect to read more from us on traffic choke points, the proposed Dalidio Ranch project in San Luis Obispo and Wal-Mart in Atascadero, the fishing industry in Morro Bay as well as wine and tourism.

Looking back
This year we set out to offer insight into many issues that affect local residents. I wish we could have reported more stories in each of our communities, from high school sports to deeper coverage of Cal Poly and Cuesta College. Unfortunately, there are always hundreds more great stories than we can possibly get to.
Still, in 2007 we significantly provided more news and information to you by expanding our online presence at www.SanLuisObispo.com, adding more breaking news, morning and afternoon e-newsletters, audio and video reports, staff blogs and crime maps for some cities.
We’ve also provided authoritative coverage on several top issues, most notably:
-- Growth and development: From the Wal-Mart controversy in Atascadero to the Dalidio project in San Luis Obispo, from the burgeoning wine industry in North County to Nipomo’s population expansion and search for new water, we have been at the forefront of reporting how our county is changing as a result of growth.
-- Methamphetamine’s impact: Our investigative series found that the highly addictive drug’s poisonous grip is destroying local families in increasing numbers every year, and the county’s ongoing war against it is costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Since the series ran in March, the county Board of Supervisors has moved forward with plans to open a much needed detoxification facility for men in 2008.
-- Los Osos sewer: This is the most important issue for the 14,000 residents who live in Los Osos, so we strived to offer informative, useful coverage. Separately, The Tribune Editorial Board offered insight and urged voters to approve a crucial sewer tax. They did.
-- Investigation into Sheriff Pat Hedges for secretly taping an employee: We provided probing coverage of this ongoing investigation and will continue to do so.
-- Organ transplant: We offered authoritative coverage of this case in which a San Francisco transplant surgeon has been charged with trying to hasten a local man’s death to harvest his organs. The trial, which is being watched closely nationally, is set for this year.
Readers often say that we don’t write enough positive, uplifting stories. I can’t say how much is the right amount, but I can tell you that on any given day, we have quite a bit of positive news, whether it’s notice of an upcoming community event, coverage of an individual’s recent accomplishments, or profiles of individuals who have overcome great tragedy, contributed time and energy to help those less fortunate or simply worked valiantly under difficult circumstances.
We’re especially proud of our annual Unsung Hero series, which we launched three years ago during Thanksgiving Week on our Opinion Page. It seemed an appropriate time to pause and thank those local residents who are passionate about their causes but seek no payment, only the satisfaction they derive from helping others. This year, inundated with nominations of so many worthy Unsung Heroes, we profiled four more individuals last week in this space.
We’ve also championed several worthwhile causes this past year, such as the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County, which provides food to more than 25,000 people. A June editorial and related news stories helped the coalition raise more than $115,000 in a mid-year fund drive, which has enabled the food bank to expand programs, including outreach efforts for seniors and young children.
Sometimes too our reporters put themselves in others’ shoes to understand issues better. Sarah Arnquist spent time chopping and boxing vegetables, hoeing weeds and moving pipes on a local farm last summer to better comprehend the effort required to put produce on supermarket shelves. It was a timely effort, given the nation’s debate over immigration, and we paired it with another staff-written article on the challenges that local employers face in hiring farm laborers.
Together these two stories on immigration received a national journalism award for the light they shed locally on one of the nation’s most pressing issues. This was just one of nearly two dozen state and national awards The Tribune staff won for their reporting, photography and page design in 2007.

Our accuracy record
As I mentioned earlier in this column, I said that we strive diligently to be as fair and balanced as is humanly possible. We try to measure that, and we do so by conducting accuracy surveys of people quoted in our news stories.
Since May 2004, we’ve sent out 434 accuracy surveys. Of the nearly 200 people who responded, 72 percent have deemed The Tribune’s reporting as “very accurate.”
The rest offered constructive criticism on how we could have improved our efforts.
The survey results are shared with the individual reporters involved, so that we can correct any errors and in general better understand our sources' expectations.
My goal with this weekly column is to make sure there that we are as open and transparent with you, the people we serve, so that you can help us improve. We strive to be all that you would expect from a news organization that seeks your trust. Your opinion matters to us.
As always, I am interested in what you think we’ve done well, where you believe we’ve fallen short – and your wish list for coverage in 2008. I’ll share your ideas with our news staff.
Write to me c/o The Tribune, P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93406-0112, or e-mail me at sduerr@thetribunenews.com.
In the meantime, we wish you a wonderful news year.
_ Sandra Duerr

Reader likes coverage of cancer center closure

"Your reporters Sarah Arnquist and Stephan Curran have earned my respect in their investigative efforts concerning the Luxory house raffle by Mee Memorial. After reading the King City Rustler articles on the problems at Mee I am certain they are merely at the tip of the iceberg. I am anticipating new developments and am very proud to have this caliber of reporting available on a local level."
-- Craig Hayes

Thanks for the online feedback, Mr. Hayes. I too feel our teamwork on the Mee Memorial cancer center story this week has been terrific. Sarah and Stephen have clearly explained the complexities of the financial failures and captured the human reaction of Mee employees finding out, to their shock, that their jobs did not exist anymore.
_ Tad Weber

Hints from Heloise: where is it?

Christine Haubruge asks if we eliminated the Hints from Heloise column.
We did, temporarily, but it will be back Sunday in our Central Coast Living section. It will also run on Wednesdays in our Food and Wine section. We're still considering when and where to publish it on other days.
-- Sandy Duerr

Reader asks why we showed Paso girls mourning a classmate's death

The Tribune should not have taken a picture of the three Flamson Middle School students that is on the front page. You photographed them at a vulnerable moment as they mourned the loss of a classmate. That was wrong to do.
_ Anonymous reader

In Tuesday's paper we published a photo taken by staff photographer Jayson Mellom of three girls at Flamson Middle School grieving the tragic death of Ashlyn Vargas. She was a Flamson student who died in an all-terrain vehicle accident on Thanksgiving. A remembrance event was set up by school officials for students who wanted to mourn together, as well as leave messages for the family on a banner.
We had school permission to attend the session, which means the students knew they could be photographed. And Jayson acted as unobtrusively as possible. He stood quietly in a corner for nearly 15 minutes before he took the picture that we ran. "My goal was to be invisible and yet tell the story of the impact this girl had on the school."
Jayson did not seek out this assignment -- his editors directed him to cover the grieving. The room where the students gathered "was really jammed," Jayson said. "It was just horrible. All these kids were crying ... It was just sad."
Still, it was a legitimate news story to cover for the reason Jayson cited. Ashlyn's death was affecting her school community, and we wanted to communicate that information to readers.
I like to tell young journalists that news can be good, bad or ugly. Our job is to cover it fairly, accurately and sensitively, and Jayson did that well.
_ Tad Weber

Will we bring late-night listings back?

Q. You have certainly been kept busy with all these changes and, as always, the paper in my opinion supplies just what is needed. I like having a full range of op-ed pieces too. I have a quick question on the Sunday TV Book. Why did the Golf Channel and Cinemax get left out?
-- Bob Leith, Paso Robles

A. Some readers had asked us to provide a less-cluttered look for the listings. So a few weeks ago we focused on the most-watched channels (Golf and Cinemax are not) and dropped 28 channels. We reinstated those channels Sunday to our prime-time listings, however, after several dozen readers complained.

Q. What happened to the late night listings (in the Sunday TV Book)? Certainly there must be enough night owls and insomniacs in the county to warrant continuing this section.
-- Ro Brooks

A. As you probably read in Publisher Chip Visci’s column in the TV Book Sunday, we are considering restoring the midnight to 6 a.m. listings by the end of December. To make space for them, we are looking at eliminating the Playing Field sports listings, which we list daily on Page 2 of the Sports section; eliminating the Best Bets page; and reducing the descriptions in the Movie Listings of two-star movies to the title, genre, actors and times. The fuller descriptions of three- and four-star movies would remain. We’d appreciate your opinion on this plan. Given the current economic downturn, we can’t add more pages to the weekly book because of newsprint costs. As Visci wrote, “Our core mission is providing space and staffing to cover local news, and while TV listings are important to some readers, it’s not our primary focus.”

-- Sandy Duerr

Reader offers thanks for Los Osos coverage

Q. I would like to thank The Tribune for its objective reporting on our issues (in Los Osos) over the last year or so. Knowing the influence your paper has on opinion, it has been very important that a balanced view was maintained, and that has surely happened. … We will never know for sure how much your articles and editorials contributed to getting people to vote, and thus to the success of the 218 vote (sewer issue). But we are very grateful that you have given and continue to give it your honest best views, which we feel contributed and will continue to contribute greatly.
-- Joyce Albright, Los Osos

A. On behalf of my colleagues, please accept our gratitude for taking the time to thank us. We appreciate such kind words.
_ Sandra Duerr

Sunday TV Book to get back channels in its listings

Q. Can you restore the channels you dropped last week in your Sunday TV Book? We don’t need the bigger type or the extra space for the channels you kept.
-- Several readers

A. Yes, we will restore them in two weeks, starting with the Nov. 25 TV Book. We have heard from about 80 faithful readers who expressed concern that we had dropped some of their favorite channels – such as Soap, Spike TV and Speed. We will not restore the TV logs during the early morning hours, however; very few people rely on them.
_ Sandra Duerr

When we show photos of graffiti vandalism

Q: I was disappointed to see that the Trib actually printed an easily read photo of the graffiti that appeared in Atascadero yesterday (Nov. 1). The entire reason for doing that crime is for public recognition and claiming a stake on a territory. You glorify the crime by showing a photo of it, especially a photo easily identifying the vandal’s tag.
_ Diana

The photo that Diana is concerned about actually did not get published in The Tribune, but appeared on SanLuisObispo.com. But her question is still relevant: Why did we cover an act of vandalism with a photo?
To be sure, we generally avoid running pictures of vandalism for the reason she raises: The people who commit such crimes seek notoriety and publishing such photos only encourages them. There will be exceptions, however. In this case, we posted the photo because it showed one part of what was a fairly significant defacing at a public elementary school in Atascadero. Schools are regarded as safe havens in our society, so when that line is crossed by an act like vandalism, it is newsworthy. Our breaking news story about the vandalism also noted that other spray painting had occurred over a two-day stretch elsewhere in Atascadero, and involved a business and private property.
For most of Thursday, when the story first appeared on our Web site, viewers could only see the photo if they clicked on the breaking news headline about the vandalism. We did not make the photo a prominent part of our online report.
_ Tad Weber

We go to court for your right to information

When my colleagues and I field readers’ phone calls or get their e-mails, many people suggest to us that it must be easy to get the news and information we print – that people simply give it to us.
If only it were that easy.
In fact, lots of people don’t want to talk to us, and people working for government agencies are sometimes the least helpful of all.
But the information that governments don’t want to give out is information that you’re entitled to. Which often prompts us to maneuver through a painstakingly difficult -- and expensive -- legal process to get you some of the most interesting stories we’ve reported.
Earlier this year, for example, we revealed how two local school districts had paid out more than $400,000 in settlements to parents of students with autism. The parents had asserted in lawsuits that inadequate services were being provided to their children.
We obtained that information by using the California Public Records Act, which allows the public to seek specific information from government.
We were compelled to use the act because officials for Lucia Mar Unified and San Luis Coastal would not simply release information about the settlements, citing concern over student confidentiality.
Ultimately, student names were redacted from the records given to us in response to our request. (To be fair, officials with San Luis Coastal were prompt in handling our request for information).
The total dollar settlement was important because one of the districts – the South County’s Lucia Mar -- was struggling with budget challenges. And both Lucia Mar and San Luis Coastal were accused of failing to meet the needs of students under their care.
As San Luis Obispo County’s only daily newspaper, we regularly file requests for information that we believe you have a right to know. Sometimes we don’t succeed. For instance, we sought the recording of the 9-1-1 emergency call recorded by the San Luis Obispo Police Department when the recent double murder-suicide occurred.
We wanted to know – and figured you would also want to know -- if there were details on that tape that might shed light on what happened and why. For example, did the dispatcher handle the call properly? Did the caller say anything that would help explain such a horrific crime?
The department denied our request, citing an exemption under the public records law that covers investigative materials. To date, there is no case law allowing public access to such emergency tapes, so we did not push the point.
But we did seek court relief in two other recent cases where we believed strongly that the public’s right to information was at risk.
Earlier this month we opposed Sheriff Pat Hedges’ request for a restraining order – colloquially called a gag order – that would bar anyone involved in the controversial bugging case from discussing it. Hedges is being accused of bugging an employee’s office and thereby violating that man’s civil rights.
The sheriff acknowledges that he bugged the office of a high-ranking officer to look into criminal allegations, charges he later determined to be unfounded.
The Tribune filed a motion to oppose Hedges’ request. Superior Court Judge Roger Picquet reaffirmed the public’s interest in an open process, ruling against the sheriff, saying his request represented “a textbook example of a chilling effect on the exercise of free speech.”
Similarly, we joined the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press earlier this year to oppose a move by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office to have a gag order placed on participants in a case involving a San Francisco doctor. He is charged with two felonies related to a failed attempt to harvest a disabled man’s organs at a local hospital.
The prosecutor said that without a gag order in place for the pretrial phase, the “integrity” of the case would be at risk. Superior Court Judge Martin Tangeman declined the prosecution’s request, saying pretrial publicity alone was not a sufficient reason to restrict the public’s access to information.
We take seriously our rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment, as does our parent company, The McClatchy Co. In its mission statement, McClatchy says: “The company’s newspapers and Web sites are steadfast defenders of First Amendment values and advocates for the communities they serve.”
It is in that spirit that we seek to uphold your right to know by being willing to spend the time and money to go to court, when necessary.
Charles Davis, a journalism professor at the University of Missouri, one of the nation’s foremost journalism schools, puts it this way:
“Freedom of information has come to be defined as a special interest of the press. In reality, it’s a fundamental democratic right.”
_ Tad Weber

A regrettable choice of words

Recently a columnist writing for The Tribune touched on the topic of wedding engagements that break off, and whether a woman should keep a diamond engagement ring or not. In the course of the column the columnist used the term "Indian giver." That elicited this response from reader Bailey Drechsler of San Luis Obipso:
"The irony, of course, in the expression 'Indian giver' is that it completely obfuscates our government’s culpability in breaking treaties with and the decimation of Indian Americans. This is why the expression is offensive and heart-breaking. It’s easy to disregard the potency of 'ethnic slurs' when they don’t carry personal relevance; and cultural sensitivity is often seen as political correctness. Clearly it’s far more complex. "
Features Editor Rochelle Reed replies:
" You are absolutely right--we should not have allowed this insensitive reference into print, and it won't appear again on our pages." The columnist, who is of Hawaiian heritage, especially regrets the choice of words, Rochelle added.
We seek to avoid offending anyone with our writing, so this was an unfortunate exception. We had already spoken to the columnist about the poor use of the term, and I am confident it won't happen again.
_ Tad Weber

When reader criticism is not helpful

Here is an e-mail I received from a reader today:

"After months of waiting for you to make constructive changes to your publication I am forced to express my opinion of the major changes that have been made to the Tribune.
"I have numerous opportunities to compare the Tribune with the Fresno Bee and the Sacramento Bee. It is hard to believe the three are all owned by the same parent company.
"I was a subscriber to the Fresno Bee for for about 35 years and have subscribed to the Tribune for 15 or 20 years.
"You have always been weak on Local, State, National and world news but since your recent major changes the paper is almost a total waste of time. News that is reported is cursory at best and when reported detail is so lacking the piece is almost all fluff ...
"Please look around and see what can be done with a paper if a professional is at the helm."

Let me emphasize that we welcome legitimate criticism of what we do and produce. But to be helpful, criticism needs to be specific. Tell us exactly what we did not do right, or how you think the paper can be made better.
To compare us to Fresno, Sacramento or any other paper in a metro market is to miss the point. As they have bigger markets to serve with more advertisers than we have here, they can produce more pages every day. That means more state, nation, world and even local news. We will never equal them in terms of volume of news.

Now, as to the reader's point that our recent changes have meant less news in The Tribune, that simply is untrue. The fact is, the recent changes we made did not significantly decrease any amount of news that we publish, save for some features material. In other words, what we cut back on was the “fluff” the reader says we have too much of. We are printing the same amount of local, state and nation/world that we always have.

As I was writing this blog, I got a phone call from a reader who asked, in upset voice, why we had not covered an event he found important. It occurred in San Francisco last Sunday and involved two gay men who, the reader said, had desecrated the inside of a Catholic church with homosexual behavior. I tried to explain that I first had to look at our wire services to see if such a news item had moved. We do not cover news outside our county firsthand because our staff is not big enough to do that. Unhappy with my response, he yelled, "Forget it. You are a ----ing village idiot."

Sheesh. Obviously, that level of discourse is not going to work.

So, readers, when you are specific in your criticism and civil too, it really helps. We can then address the problems you raise.
_ Tad Weber

New on our Web: Daily crime map for Paso Robles

If you have ever wondered where thefts, burglaries and other crimes are occurring in Paso Robles, you now have a way to find out:
Just log onto http://www.sanluisobispo.com/553/, scroll down on the right side of the page and click on Crime Maps. That will take you to a map that highlights all incidents reported to the city of Paso Robles every day.
It’s the second city where our work with the local police department has yielded this benefit. We launched a similar crime map for the city of San Luis Obispo a few months ago. Both police department chiefs – Deborah Linden of SLO and Lisa Solomon of Paso Robles – also will be making sure their department offers regular tips to residents on this same site.
While we will continue to publish stories of the most serious crimes in these two cities, the online maps will give you far more detailed information on your communities than we have space for in the daily Tribune.
Please keep in mind that calls to the police for service sometimes don’t reflect the nature of an incident. A burglary may be reported, for example, but it could turn out to be false. We’ve also excluded exact addresses for incidents involving allegations of rape, sexual assaults, spousal abuse and child abuse.
The maps are typically updated every 24 hours at about 9 a.m. daily, according to Tribune Web developer Danny Thorogood, who created the maps and has worked with the police departments on this project.
The incidents are mapped to individual streets, and will list homicides, sexual assaults, narcotics, assault, animal problems, traffic problems, burglaries, graffiti and other crimes.
We’re working with the city of Atascadero and hope to have its reports within a few weeks. Tribune Web producer Larissa Van Beurden-Doust also is continuing to work with the other police departments in the county to get them on board as well.
Police chiefs Solomon and Linden deserve a great deal of credit for making these public records available to the wider public. An informed citizenry can help police prevent crime and apprehend criminals.
_ Sandra Duerr

Readers say "maimed veterans'' was insensitive

Two readers have contacted me upset about how we referenced veterans in a headline on a local story we wrote Sept. 26. The story focused on veterans, many injured in the Iraqi war, who were learning to deal with their injuries, embrace life and learn to surf on the Central Coat. The headline read, “Maimed veterans rehab and play in Pismo surf.’’ A secondary headline said “Troops returning from Iraq with amputations or severe burns hit the water with a purpose.’’

Julie Dratwa of Arroyo Grande advised us to look up the word in the dictionary. “Though these boys came back from the war with injuries, they've come back stronger than most of the men and women I meet on the street … not one of them are defective or imperfect! They are heroic!”
Both readers believe we owe the veterans an apology.

The copy editor who wrote that headline chose it to describe the injuries that the veterans sustained in war. He noted that the official dictionary we use, Webster’s New World College Dictionary, defines maimed as an injury causing the loss or crippling of some necessary part of the body. No ill will – or slight to the troops -- was intended, according to News Editor Andy Castagnola. Rather, we covered this story, as we did far more extensively last year, to share with our readers these veterans’ spirit and drive to overcome their injuries and to continue to live purposeful lives. Our story itself discussed the troops’ decision to live and defy the odds, quoting at least one person as saying that he is learning to adapt and reuse his right arm after it was almost lost in an explosion. To be sure, the copy editor could have opted to say “injured veterans’’ instead. It’s less harsh. But then, war is harsh. And that’s the only message our copy editor was trying to get across. We apologize if any one interpreted this differently.

-- Sandra Duerr

When we publish Letters to the Editor online

Will Power of Arroyo Grande suggested that it would help readers if we could clearly explain our policy of featuring only certain letters in the widely read print edition of your paper while relegating other letters to the much less read "online" version. "Perhaps The Tribune feels that some opinions need more exposure than others,'' he wrote me.

Here's my answer:
When we publish letters online, it’s typically because they’re in response to stories that only appeared online or because we’ve had an overflow of letters on a specific subject and they’re time sensitive. We have not done it often. “For example, we did that at election time and from time to time, have done it with the Los Osos sewer issue,’’ said Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.
In addition, when we receive an extremely long local Viewpoint, she said, “we sometimes give the author the option of running an abbreviated version in the daily, and running the full version online.’’ In all of these cases, we include a refer on the Opinion and Voices pages directing readers to our online site.
For the record, the Opinion and Letters sections on our Web site are consistently among our most popular, according to Online Editor Sally Buffalo. They received more than 20,000 page views during September, she said, adding that “between 9,000 and 14,000 people a day come to SanLuisObispo.com, some returning several times throughout the day. And we’ve seen that number grow in the past few months.”

-- Sandy Duerr

This Vietnam veteran did not like our recent label headline

Harry Galloway, a reader in Atascadero, called to complain about a headline over a Local section story we published last Wednesday. The headline said: "Police chase, shooting has Morro Bay connection." The subhead read: "Fresno officers return fire on fleeing gunman believed headed here to home of a fearful wife." And the overline said: "Vietnam Veteran." It was that last part that drew Galloway's criticism, for he is a Vietnam veteran.
"To me it is so disrespectful because in the public's mind it puts us all in the same category," he said.
I can understand his sensitivities, and see his point. But in this case, the police made the strong link to this man's Vietnam experience as a way to explain why he was acting in such a threatening way now. That past was relevant to the present, according to the police.
Also, in the course of our coverage every year, we write about positive things veterans are doing to better our community, including those who have served in Vietnam. In this way, we show readers that Vietnam veterans do more than act out negative behaviors spawned from their service years.
_ Tad Weber

Why we fact-check Letters to the Editors

Several readers have asked us recently: Why do I have to tell you my source of information in my Letter to the Editor? Isn’t this the place in the newspaper where I can simply give you my opinion?

So let me try to answer:
We review all local Letters to the Editor and Viewpoints to ensure that the facts cited are accurate and allegations made are provable. If the commentary can’t pass these tests, we don’t publish them. “We first attempt to verify factual information by checking our own story files, the Internet and other sources. If we are unable to confirm the information — or we find conflicting data — we often ask letter writers to provide their sources,’’ said Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane.
Besides fact-checking, Letters Editor Heather Smith edits letters for grammar, clarity, length and taste. As Finucane has written before, we reject some letters “because they’re too long; contain libelous or obscene statements; are illegible; or the writer neglected to include the necessary contact information of a full name, address and a phone number where he or she can be reached during business hours.” Furthermore, we try avoiding letters that praise or criticize a particular business.
Smith says that when she explains our policy to letter writers, many thank her for checking the facts, saying “they are happy to know The Tribune does this.’’ To give you a sense of the amount of fact-checking we do, consider this: Of the six to eight letters that we publish daily, only two typically don’t require fact-checking because they’re “thank-you’’ type letters. Looked at another way, we fact check 28 to 36 letters a week, Smith says.

Any other questions about our Opinion Page policies -- or news policies?
If yes, simply email me at sduerr@thetribunenews.com, and I'll reply.

-- Sandy Duerr

Why we published what one reader called a "disgusting anti-American'' editorial cartoon

Q. It was a disgraceful act of The Tribune to allow a disgusting anti-American propaganda piece, such as the cartoon by Gary Markstein, to be posted among the Letters to the Editor on Sept. 12. This was an obvious and vicious attempt to portray General David Petraeus as a liar. Shame on The Tribune.
-- R. Dunbar Salin, Avila Beach

Q. I’m just appalled or really curious as to why you would stoop so low with today’s cartoon that portrays General Petraeus as such a buffoon … I watched General Petraeus on Brit Hume and I was never so impressed … I’m sure there were many cartoons you could have chosen from. I’m sure you could have found something more positive. Do you people just not understand war? Quit playing to the extremist left of people who want this country to go down the tube.
-- Melinda Rice

A. When Opinion Editor Stephanie Finucane selected this particular cartoon, she had three to choose from on the subject that were available for us to publish. All were critical of Army Gen. David Petraeus’ report. One was visually cluttered and difficult to understand, and in a second one, Patraeus was seated at a table draped to look like a coffin, which Finucane found to be off-topic and in poor taste. Since then, another cartoon arrived with the headline, “Once upon a time.” In summary, we did not have cartoons available to us that portrayed a different point of view on this topic. But because the general’s report was the main news of the day, we wanted to offer a commentary on it, and the cartoon we selected was one form.
We select editorial cartoons on all subjects to offer readers another source of commentary, along with political columns, editorials and local Letters to the Editor. They are all part of the mix on our Opinion Page to offer diverse points of view – conservative, liberal, middle-of-the-road. “We encourage readers to judge the Opinion Page on all of this content, not solely on our editorial cartoons,’’ Finucane said. “On this particular day, for example, in addition to the cartoon we ran a column from Cal Thomas headlined, ‘Accept nothing short of victory in Iraq.’”
For the record, all sitting presidents, Republican or Democrat, are a favorite target of cartoonists, who set out to create provocative cartoons to stir up debate.

-- Sandy Duerr

Love politics? Check out our new Election '08 link

If you are a political junkie, make sure to see the Election '08 link on our home page. You will find it in the right column, or rail, of Web online extras. This link will take you to our election page where we group local coverage with state and national campaign news. Currently, we have mostly national news, as that is where most of the action is occurring. But there are a half dozen stories filed by Tribune staff writers, including news on recent fundraisers and the political impact expected from the controversial viewshed decision made by the county Board of Supervisors. And once local campaigns get more in gear next year, we will load up the coverage.
One other feature I want to point out: The Hot Off the Trail blog. It is written by veteran reporters based in the Washington, D.C. bureau of McClatchy Co., our corporate owner. In 2004 I had the chance to work for a month as deputy political editor in the bureau as the fall presidential campaign moved to the final dash to Election Day. So I got to know several of the reporters, including Steven Thomma, who has wide experience and deep knowledge of presidential politics. You can read his posts in the Hot Off the Trail blog.
_ Tad Weber

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

Crime, Zac Efron and prep sports ... get the latest on www.sanluisobispo.com

The show of sound and light that kept so many of us awake early Thursday crackled on our Web site a few hours later – with photos from our own photographers as well as those submitted by readers countywide and a story on why the freak summer storm occurred.
By noon, our photo gallery boasted about 30 images as well as a video. By evening, we had two videos.
This is a great example of how online is allowing us to interact with you in ways never available before – and, at the same time, give you access to more information, quickly.
Our reporters routinely write stories first for http://www.sanluisobispo.com/, and offer deeper stories with more context for the next day’s Tribune. In the case of the summer storm, Tribune readers received a full report in Friday’s edition, including four dramatic photos.
Beyond reacting immediately to county news events, our online staff led by Online Editor Sally Buffalo has launched or improved several other parts of our Web site recently so that we’re more useful to readers. Here’s a closer look:
Crime map: You can now view all incidents reported to the San Luis Obispo Police Department each day on a map – in a certain neighborhood or on a certain street, for example -- and search based on type of crime and date. We are working to obtain similar information from the county’s other police departments. Check it out at www.SanLuisObispo.com/crime/ We will continue to cover the major crimes in our daily police blotter in The Tribune, but this gives you access to all incidents reported to SLO police daily.
Prep sports: You can get schedules, rosters and statistics of your favorite local prep football teams. We eventually plan to expand this to other sports. Our link: www.sanluisobispo.com/prepsports
Zac Efron: Want to keep track of our national teen idol from Arroyo Grande? Check out our special coverage and link to blogs and noteworthy articles about him. We’ve also included Efron photos e-mailed to us by readers. Our link: www.sanluisobispo.com/zac/
Explore SLO County: If you’re hosting visitors, trying to pick out a restaurant or find out where to hike, head to this section of our site. In addition to the 200 local restaurant reviews, complete winery listings, wine itineraries, hotel listings and outdoor activities, you can now find a wealth of information to advise out-of-town guests how to get here and get around (airports, trains, renting cars and parking). We’ve also added a guide for those interested in getting married here, along with new videos and slideshows, including one on tasting wine. Our link: www.sanluisobispo.com/living/explore/
Latest movie, TV show information: We wrap up all the new movies, TV shows, DVDs, music and more and update it every Friday. You can also find movie trailers for new releases on our entertainment page, www.SanLuisObispo.com/entertainment/ And for entertainment junkies, we offer audio clips each week related to the world of entertainment.

-- Sandy Duerr