Herald has to achieve a balance with readers

Dave Campbell discusses the relationship between the community and the paper

After writing a column that garnered a significant amount of criticism from readers, I decided to sit down with Dave Campbell — perhaps my harshest critic — and have a conversation about the opinions expressed in the Herald, the response from the community, and the proper role of the newspaper.

Brandon Swanson: "There is friction that I see between the paper and the community. We have a lot of features that are personal takes like 'My Turn' and editorials and a lot of stuff that is first-person opinion. Do you think the paper in your point of view should downplay that?"

Dave Campbell: "Well, it's interesting. I've talked to a number of people over the years that you get to understand that their perspective is that if it is in the newspaper that it has to be true. They don't take a correlation that that is an opinion page that is subject to whatever — If somebody writes a letter to the editor really bad-mouthing, people believe that if that wasn't true, the newspaper wouldn't print it. People do feel that if it's in the paper it must be true.

"I think people are very sensitive to editorials because they think there's a bias. And there has always been that perception that newspapers have a liberal bias.

"I'll give you an example. If the newspaper thought it was really important that, as a community, we need to really stand up and say, 'We're opposed to the war in Iraq and we need to talk to our legislators.' The paper could feel really strongly about that, but if they get too far off of center —"

BS: "They start to alienate people."

DC: "Right. It's a business, and if you lose your readership because you're taking a moral stance on something, regardless you still have to sell newspapers. People will feel that, 'Hey, this is a conservative community. You're trying to be too liberal. You're trying to shove stuff down our throats.' So you end up with three quarters of the readers because you are trying to take a stand.

"But I think there is a balance there."

BS: "Do you think that balance is not being achieved?"

DC: "I think think the paper's doing a good job there. I think the paper should challenge the community on issues. But it's interesting to get people's perspective on it. It's like the editorial about Michael Moore's movie. I know that offended a lot of people, that they were mad because the paper came out and said the theater here was wrong by not bringing that movie in. It's interesting that there is some disconnect right now. But I think there always has been between the newspaper and the community. And I think that's probably true in other areas too."

BS: "Well, in my opinion, it would be less so, because if you have a (Seattle) Times or a Spokesman-Review, you have people who right the editorials, that's what they do. They're not out in the community interviewing people and writing stories. I think maybe one problem is that people read an editorial by a reporter and since we only have a handful of reporters, they remember that name."

DC: "Right. A smaller newspaper it's very much a different situation."

BS: "I don't know if this is the case, or not, but it seems to me that there is a problem — and maybe understandably so — that there are kids who are fresh out of college who are not from the area who are moving in and a month afterwards writing something like I wrote. What do you think is better — having somebody criticize the community who's been here a while and knows the ins and outs and knows the long soap opera, or somebody who can view it with fresh eyes?"

DC: "I think it is important to have the fresh eyes. But I think, again, the newspaper is a business and as much as you'd like to think you can write whatever you want — freedom of the press, et cetera — if you're going to have a viable newspaper here, I think it is important that the newspaper has to be careful what they do print.

"I think the paper has to be sensitive to how they present the information they present. Many years ago, back in the early 90's, I brought a gal I knew from Child Protective Services to Rotary, to talk about child abuse — sexual abuse. People were very upset with the program, but the idea was that this isn't just something that happens in New York or Los Angeles or Seattle, this is across every community. But it was an in-your-face presentation and it made people uncomfortable. So I think there is a balance to achieve. It's one thing to inform and challenge the community, but the paper still has to be sensitive about how they do that."