Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994                   TAG: 9402040006
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Madelyn Rosenberg
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ARE JOURNALISTS OUT OF TOUCH? WE'LL FIND OUT

But on a recent survey, asked to rate the scandalized former president on a scale of 1 to 10 _ 1 being cold feelings, 10 leaning toward the warm and fuzzy - Alvis-Banks, an editorial assistant here, gave Nixon a five. So did I.

It's been a few months since journalists at our paper were asked to take a survey asking us to divulge bits and pieces of our personal lives. Some of our readers were asked to take it, too.

The intent, we were told, was to prove that the people who work for newspapers have little in common with the people who read them.

I've never been one for conspiracy theories, but when I answered a slew of questions on my attendance at sporting events, I was sure something strange was afoot.

I grew paranoid and my pen strokes grew darker when I thought I could buck a norm.

Asked, for example, how far away I live from the place I grew up, I proudly wrote out in black ink: "three miles."

The surveyors, I suspect, believe all journalists are transplanted Yankees, traveling the country in search of a decent pizza.

And the way they asked how much country music we listened to had a hidden meaning, too, I'll bet.

Their theory, I feel sure, is that journalists have never heard of Allison Krauss or Tanya Tucker. That we cannot relate to lyrics like: "Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger, baby, sometimes you're the ball."

Obviously, they don't believe that reporters can have good dogs and bad relationships.

The survey, dreamed up by a fellow journalist in Washington, angered some of us. It gave us a few chuckles - and a little pause.

Management here is interested in the results. We are, too.

But it's a guarded interest.

In part, of course, we worry about any survey where the conclusion is drawn before the data is taken. And in part, we worry that the survey may be right.

When the surveyor visited our paper we were quick to point out two things: first, that regardless of any differences in lifestyle between the people who do the reporting and the people we report on, we live our lives in the same community. And second, we always strive to write for the reader, this year, more than ever.

In 1994, we will be reaching out to our readers ourselves through a number of means. We'll try to find out what you read and what you don't.

We'll try to make sure we're not writing about liver pate if you want recipes for spare ribs.

And we'll take a peek at the survey results, when they come back.

Meanwhile, we'd like you, the reader, to help fill in some of the blanks by calling Infoline. We thought you might like to answer a few questions lifted from the survey we took this fall. Tell us how you feel about Roseanne Barr and Rush Limbaugh. I'll tell you how the staff feels about them.

We'll compare answers in the paper next week.

Keywords:
INFOLINE