“There’s a right time to feed us untimely news” from the April 17, 1973 Door County Advocate
There’s a right time to feed us untimely news
By KETA STEEBS
About two days after I had surgery the phone in room 16 tingled merrily and an unfamiliar voice asked if I would be willing to participate in a panel discussion in Madison. My role would be that of a small town reporter informing educational project directors as to what rural papers consider news. In contrast, a big city reporter would give her version of what is and is not news to metropolitan readers.
Still groggy from pain pills, hypos and after effects of the anesthetic, I mumbled something about thinking it over and promptly forgot the whole thing. A follow-up letter a few weeks later sharply reminded me that I would be expected at Lowell hall at such and such a time on Apr. 5.
My fellow panelists consisted of Ms. Ruth Flegel of the Wisconsin State Journal and Robert Kellner, Title III project assistant director and member of the planning committee. Both, according to their introductions, are highly educated young people with a list of academic credentials too numerous to mention here. In addition, they are poised, articulate, and know what they are talking about.
It seems that this “Dissemination Workshop” was planned to help hard pressed project directors (people who plan innovative school programs) get their message to the public. Some papers ignore them, some slash news releases to shreds, others have strict guidelines on how articles should be presented, (like double spacing) and a few, not many, but a few reporters won’t even answer the phone when a project director is on the line.
Ms. Flegel, an attractive young lady who covers the Madison area education beat, instructed her note-taking audience that Mondays and Saturdays are usually slow news days (unless there’s a march on the legislature or something) and are the best times for school coverage. Deadlines, however, must be strictly adhered to. She advised her listeners to keep releases short (paragraphs should be no more than three or four typewritten lines) to avoid pedagogic expressions and not to expect more than one release on one subject at a time. She explained that she works with a staff of 40 reporters, editors, rewrite people, etc., and does not, as a rule, write her own headlines. She said her fellow employees were trained in journalism but none to her knowledge had a degree in education — hence the request to keep instructional gobbledegook to the minimum.
I said our editorial staff consists of four people and until Linda Adams came along, not one of us had a journalism degree. We write our own headlines, usually edit our copy (unless it’s slightly controversial) and welcome any news pertaining to Door county.
January, I told them, is the best month for getting in lengthy releases (including the single spaced jobs) as nothing ever happens in January. Except for our harassed sports editor, in January we’re out looking for a good game of jacks to cover and there have been days when we’ve desperately had to fill odd holes with last minute talk about the weather, admonitions to “Read Orchard Ole” and stretch out the hospital admissions by inserting white space between each line. We have never, as my editor says, had to throw in the kitchen sink but we have a large photo of one ready if that day ever comes.
After January, I told them, slant news releases for tax time. Sarah Magnusson, over on Washington Island, in her dual role as town clerk and Advocate correspondent, is usually so busy collecting taxes in February, she hasn’t all that much time to write. Consequently Sarah’s 20 to 22 inch columns are sometimes shortened to nine or 10 inches — thus, giving our layout men about three blank paragraphs to fill.
“It could just as well be school news,” I told them encouragingly, “but not more school sports. We’re loaded with them already.”
Another clue I told our title directors to be on the lookout for is advance notice of our correspondents’ vacations. A few don’t tell as they’ve been away until they’re back but several inform us (via their readers) that they plan on spending a few weeks in Florida, a day or so in Milwaukee, some time in Oak Park taking care of a new grandchild, etc. Naturally, a dearth of news accompanies such absences and it is the wise project director who will take careful note of this fact.
I told them we don’t give a hoot what happens in Washington or Madison regarding project funds but once we learn $11,000 has been allocated to Door county for whatever purpose, a feature story is in the offing. We give arbor day observances (complete with tree planting ceremonies) a half page of pictures, copy and editorial praise. We attend pond dedications, handicapped worker’s art fairs, remedial reading programs, and in-ter-service sessions between directors and teachers. We duly note and subsequently devote gobs of ink to anything that happens in Door county — once it is brought to our attention.
We don’t hang up on anybody, we are exceptionally amicable to suggestions made over a cup of coffee, and if the Department of Public Instruction has anything of interest to say about OUR kids, its front page news. We’ll even delay the deadline.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles by Keta Steebs
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