In the News

It’s time to speak up

Dave Olson — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:18:44 +0000

Readers of The Salem News aren’t shy. Every day we get dozens of phone calls, e-mails and letters to the editor from folks letting us know how they feel about our stories and editorials. We think that’s a good thing | it tells us people care about what’s going on in their community and at their newspaper.

Now, we’re giving you another way to weigh in, this time at SalemNews.com. At the end of every story, editorial and letter to the editor is an area for you to share your thoughts and opinions. We also want readers to talk to each other, so there’s a reply button that lets you respond to someone else’s post.

There are a few rules: We ask that you be respectful to one another and use appropriate language when posting on the site.

We look forward to the conversation.

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Welcome back, Larry

Dave Olson — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:22:45 +0000

The Salem News has a new features editor, and he should be a familiar face to readers of this paper and music lovers on the North Shore.

Larry Claflin Jr. worked for the News in the late 1990s, helping design our pages and writing about outdoor activities like hiking, biking and canoeing. We’re glad to have him back in the fold.

Our features pages are already full of local stories, photos and columnists. Larry’s goal — The Salem News’ goal, really — over the next several months is to bring even more of a local touch to those pages.

We’re confident that as a local guy — a Marblehead native who lives in Salem and is co-founder of the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival — Larry can do just that.

Anyone with ideas for or comments on the features pages can reach Larry at 978-338-2681 or lclaflin@salemnews.com

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New Saturday column debuts

Dave Olson — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:51:27 +0000

Susan Flynn’s name should be familiar to longtime readers of The Salem News (and its former competitor, The Beverly Times).

Susan, who began her career here in 1991, has worked as as a reporter, city editor, features writer and features editor; she has covered the North Shore from almost every vantage point in the business.

Now we’ve added a new role: columnist.

Look for Susan’s column on the front page every Saturday. For those of you who may have missed it, you can find last Saturday’s piece here.

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Reader call of the week

Dave Olson — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:03:37 +0000

An alert reader of Saturday’s Salem News noted the juxtaposition of the stories about high school students raising money to help stave off teacher layoffs and the 20 Salem State kids who packed into an elevator last Thursday night, causing it to fall two stories.

Instead of taking housing away from the Salem State students, the caller suggested, why not make them perform community service — namely, raising money for the Salem schools?

It’s food for thought, at the very least

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‘Lives’ of the North Shore

Dave Olson — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:02:27 +0000

It is common practice for newspapers to write a “feature” obituary on the news pages — even on Page 1 — when a prominent citizen passes away, or when one of our neighbors dies in tragic circumstances.

In the past year, The Salem News has written stories on people ranging from former Beverly alderman Ed Doherty to Swampscott’s Jennifer Harris, the young Marine helicopter pilot shot down in Iraq.

Sometimes stories like these help bring communities together to mourn; at other times they remind us of the sacrifice and hard work of prominent civic leaders.

For too long, however, we’ve paid scant notice in our news pages to the passing of so-called “regular” people. (Note: This does not include our obituary pages, which are already among the most widely read in the paper. There are improvements coming here, too, which I’ll talk about in a week or so.)

The truth is there are no regular people. When we fail to realize that, to put into context what a passing means to a particular community, we’re all a little less connected.

That’s why we’re introducing a new feature called “Lives.” Every Monday, we’ll be telling the stories of North Shore people who have died recently.

Our first piece told the story of Nina Vickers of Salem.

There are few rules for “Lives.” Our main goal is to remind our readers — and ourselves — what makes the North Shore a special place to live.

There is a story in every life.

Sometimes, we just need to slow down to notice.

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Danversport, one year later

Dave Olson — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:51:17 +0000

A few days ago, my 13-year-old son sat down at my computer when I went to the kitchen for more coffee. I came back to find him surfing salemnews.com.

“Dad,” he said, “if all of this stuff is here, why would anybody read the paper?”

I did the only thing I could do. I grounded him.

Actually, I gave him an answer that sounded a lot like one this blog’s previous posts, which argued the paper and the Web are key to delivering the news. In the best of worlds, the complement, not compete, with one another.

Today’s coverage of the one year anniversary of the Danversport blast, is the latest example of how the print and the Web work together. If you haven’t read the paper yet, you should. It offers personal stories you won’t find anywhere else. For graphics, photos, more stories and other content you won’t find anywhere else, go to the Web here. The site even makes you, the reader, part of the story with a “where were you when?” section.

The combination of the Web and the print edition lets us tell the story of Danversport with a depth and scope we didn’t have a year ago.

Let us know what you think.

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Tragedy and the Bill of Rights

Dave Olson — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:48:41 +0000

News that the two Boston firefighters had alcohol or cocaine in their systems when they died fighting a fire in a West Roxbury restaurant infuriated citizens and media alike earlier this week.

Newspaper readers and television news watchers were incensed the media reported the leaked results of the autopsy findings for Paul J. Cahill, 55, and Warren J. Payne, 53. Why smear the good name of two heroes who died trying to protect the public? Why endanger the survivor benefits of their family members?

Those of us in the media were equally furious — at Superior Court Judge Merita Hopkins. It was Hopkins, Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s former chief of staff, who barred WHDH-Channel 7 from reporting the news Wednesday. Hopkins’ argument was

Let’s take these one at a time:

– As disturbing as the news must have been to the fallen firefighters’ friends and family, this was certainly a story the public needed to know. According to reports, one firefighter had a blood alcohol level of .27; the other had cocaine in his system. Is this an isolated incident, or are alcohol and substance abuse a larger problem in the department ranks? Is the problem affecting the department’s ability to protect the city’s residents? These are questions that deserve answers.

– Hopkins’ move to bar WHDH from reporting its finding was a clear violation of the First Amendment. Appeals Court Judge Andrew Grainger said as much when he overturned the decision yesterday. I can’t put it any better than Douglas Lee, writing for the First Amendment Center:

Perhaps no First Amendment right is more secure than the news media’s right to publish information free from government censorship. While public officials frequently wish they could prevent newspapers, magazines and broadcast stations from publishing sensitive or embarrassing information, their ability to censor the media is extremely limited. These limits on prior restraint (as such censorship is also known) have been firmly in place for more than 70 years.

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A poor choice of details

Dave Olson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:39:07 +0000

We’ve had several calls, e-mails and letters from readers upset about a story in Monday’s Salem News.

Most of the story was a straightforward account of Saturday night’s fatal motorcycle accident on Route 128 in Peabody.

David L. Allen of Gloucester died at the scene of the crash, which was just before the Route 1 exit. Police gave all the details they had on the one-vehicle accident.

For many readers, the problem came when we went to Allen’s house to try to talk to members of his family. People weren’t upset that we went to the house; the problem was what happened next.

There was no one at the home, so the reporter gathered some details about the house and returned to the office.

Unfortunately, these details were tacked on to the end of the story:

“A fat, floppy-eared tan rabbit was living on the back porch, penned in with white plastic fencing. He had a shelter, some wood to climb on and lawn ornaments to look at.”

As non-sequiturs go, it was a bad one.

Here’s what one reader had to say:

“ I have just read the article on the motorcycle accident in Peabody… I was appalled to read (the) description of the family’s home and even a description of a rabbit that lives there. … there was no need at all for the final two paragraphs of that article.”

The reader is right: The final paragraphs were unnecessary. It’s not the reporter’s fault – they’re trained to gather details. It’s up to us as editors to make sure they’re used in the proper context, especially in sensitive stories. We didn’t do that here.

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Keeping the public’s business public

Dave Olson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:47:59 +0000

Anyone interested in seeing the public’s business done in full sunlight should be following the work of our sister paper, The Gloucester Daily Times. The Times has been pressing Essex officials on their decision to close to the public a key meeting on the future of the Conomo Point property. Here’s the story.

This time, the issue involves Essex. But too often, the same thing happens in one of our local communities. One of the most important roles of a community newspaper is to make sure the public has open access to the workings of their government.

For a Gloucester Daily Times editorial on the topic, click here.

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Summer sights, sounds on the Web

Dave Olson — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:47:58 +0000

For those of you already missing the sounds of summer, be sure to check out our new Web feature, One Voice.

The latest installment of the audio slideshow, shot, recorded and edited by staff photographer Linsey Tait, tells the story of Allan Ganz, who has been selling ice cream and other treats to West Peabody children for 60 years.

One Voice is only one of the many features on our multimedia page. Take a peek.

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