By David Spett

There is no topic more important than how The Daily’s coverage serves readers. My feeling is that the paper needs to put more emphasis on improving coverage so it can better serve its audience.

Editor in Chief Ryan Wenzel had it right when he told editors at a meeting on Nov. 12 that some stories in the paper lack newsworthiness. Too many articles are not timely and don’t have news pegs – “something that makes (them) relevant now,” Wenzel said.

Some issues of The Daily, such as the election issue on Nov. 8, stand out from the rest by providing excellent reporting and useful visuals. This quarter, The Daily has had some great visual journalism, such as the Sept. 28 front page design featuring an article about a speaker from Iran. But Wenzel and I agree there is still room for improvement. That improvement will not be easy; it requires creative thinking and a willingness to challenge tradition.

I sat down with the dean of Medill, John Lavine, who is an expert on readership studies. While I disagree with his vision for Medill, The Daily could learn a lot from research conducted by the Readership Institute, which Lavine founded and directed until January.

The biggest factor that motivates readers to spend time with a newspaper, Lavine said, is “something to talk about.”

“When in doubt, rely on (readers’) self-interest,” he said. Later, he added: “I’m not saying dumb it (the writing) down. I’m just saying it better be said in a pretty interesting fashion.”

Another important goal for editors is that coverage should make readers smarter and “look out for (their) civic and personal interests,” according to Lavine’s research. With these broad goals in mind, I reread the paper to see where articles might have better served readers.

The Oct. 10 lead story, “Residents rile up meeting,” stuck out at me. The article was about a City Council bill on beekeeping and an amendment to the city’s landlord and tenant ordinance.

The part of the story that probably mattered most to students – the changes to landlord and tenant regulations – was buried at the bottom, after 381 words on changes to beekeeping rules. Arguably, the beekeeping changes were of no consequence to any student, let alone most city residents.

It is important to note that 85 percent of The Daily’s circulation serves the Evanston campus. About 5 percent is distributed via eight news boxes in Evanston, and another 5 percent is sent to the Chicago campus. The remaining 5 percent is mailed to subscribers.

Looking through the paper, I found several stories that might have been better if reporters and editors had asked: Does this provide readers with something to talk about? Does it make them smarter? Does it look out for their civic and personal interests?

I would like to see The Daily become less reactive to news. Let’s think up new ways to cover old events; let’s refocus meeting coverage and instead provide more depth and analysis; let’s hold politicians, administrators and student leaders accountable; and let’s actually fix The Daily’s ailing Web site.

I don’t intend to be a demeaning know-it-all. The dedicated students who write stories like the one on beekeeping do so to inform the community. I truly believe that their journalism performs a tremendous service to readers. I mean only to say that, with a little bit of rethinking about the way The Daily operates, the paper could serve its audience even better.

With that, I end my tenure as public editor. If space and time allow, I may write one final wrap-up column at the start of Winter Quarter. Regardless, it has truly been a pleasure serving you.

Public Editor David Spett serves as the readers’ representative. His opinions and conclusions are his own. He can be reached at [email protected].