THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310220
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Settle back in your chair for a while, and let's chat about the newspaper you're reading.
Do you like its size? Is the type big enough for you to read comfortably? If you were to stop right now, without advancing to Page 7 and beyond, would you feel that you might be missing something - something informative, entertaining and/or just plain interesting to know?
Or - heaven knows, I dislike asking this - could you just put it aside with no thought of missing a thing? We know there are people in that category; what we need to learn is how to bring them more into the readers' fold.
You can help, by sharing your ideas to bring more vitality to the Sun. We'll listen, I promise.
While I'm certainly not new to the Sun, I did change roles early this year. Now, instead of writing editorials for the Sun and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, I write this column, produce the Sun's editorial page and supervise daily news coverage from this region.
That includes the Sun and what we call the mainsheet, the ``big'' paper that's delivered along with your community news section.
While I have to say up front that day-to-day matters dominate my time, as well as other staffers', we are determined to find out what matters most to Sun readers.
We're not going out and hire some high-falutin' firm to ask a bunch of questions for us - not for now, anyway. (1) It costs too much. (2) We want to hear directly what you have to say.
Some of you already are our best critics; we just wish your number would increase. We understand that a newspaper can be a wonderfully personal thing: You invite it into your home, and you have certain expectations - some in broad, but vital, categories such as fairness; others as specific as recognizing community achievers.
One thing to consider as you evaluate the Sun: It was never intended to take the place of the daily newspaper as the source of news, such as the recent plane crash near Holland and the Wal-Mart evacuation. Continue to look to The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star for that.
But we're also looking to make the Sun more news-oriented. A couple of examples:
While the plane crash made Page 1 and the Metro News front of The Pilot, a Sun story focused on local rescue efforts.
When the Planning Commission and City Council voted Wednesday night in favor of the proposed race track, you read that the next day in The Pilot. Today, on Page 3, staff writers Susie Stoughton and Mac Daniel and photographer Gary Knapp give you more details about what went on.
And today's cover story, by staff writer Vanee Vines, ties directly to an earlier, regional story in The Pilot.
As we see it, those stories fall into many readers' expectation of news - coverage of the region and the city.
We know Suffolk residents are most interested in Suffolk schools, and that Virginia Beach residents (who are getting similar coverage in The Beacon) care most about their own schools.
The tabs - that's what most of us who are involved in the community news sections call them, since we can't stand the connotations of tabloids - are perfect for delivering news to specific areas. Now, if we could only come up with the just-right mix to make the papers compelling all the time. Being realistic, we know that won't happen. But you can help us improve.
Please take a couple of minutes, determine if the contents do anything for you, and let us know. Our goal: to make it your community news section.
You can call my Voice Mail any time: 446-2492; or call me at the office, Monday through Friday: 934-7553. by CNB