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Your Newspaper: Of war, fabrication and television

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BY MICHAEL NELSON

Monday, Jul 07, 2008 - 12:31:25 am CDT

The question came from a reader, boldly and suddenly, at the tail-end of a casual conversation that seemed headed elsewhere. 

“So why do you publish the names of those guys killed in Iraq?  Isn’t that some kind of anti-war statement?”

The Lincoln Journal Star has printed in the past five years or so the names of more than 4,000 women and men killed in the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Story Photo
Michael Nelson

The reasons are simple enough: The names are information, the heartbreaking detail of the terrible price of war, in the words of John McCain. Those short paragraphs are also individual memorials, a pause to pay tribute.

Of course, all readers will see those names through a personal lens.

Guided by their own lights, two thoughtful individuals could separately conclude that the published names represent the bitter harvest of misbegotten foreign policy or the tally of the sacrifice necessary in freedom’s cause.

The right to that difference of opinion is what we celebrated this star-spangled weekend. It is the essence of the democratic experience.

But don’t read anything into the act of publishing. There ain’t an ounce of politics in it.

Was it a ‘fabrication’?

That’s the word several readers used in e-mails and telephone calls to describe the image of a letter reproduced on Page 1 of the June 28 edition.

The letter from City Hall was addressed to Jon Carlson and outlined code violations — deficiencies Carlson would later correct — at a rental unit he owned near 17th and M streets. The letter was included as illustration in a look at Carlson’s record as a landlord, a valid concern now that he has taken on responsibilities for working with rental property owners to improve housing in the city core.

Here’s the catch: The letter was dated 2002, but the letterhead bore the name of  Mayor Chris Beutler, who wasn’t in that office at the time. How could this be?

Staff members quickly verified that the letter carried the genuine text of the notice mailed to Carlson in ’02.  The city had stored the text electronically, and when the Journal Star asked for a copy of the letter, the printout provided was on the new administration’s letterhead.

Editors concur that this discrepancy should have been caught and addressed before publication. And they were relieved the mistake was an oversight.

After all, no error is taken lightly; fabrication can be grounds for dismissal.

TV Week is no more

The Journal Star’s longtime listing guide has been discontinued beginning today.

To make up for the loss to some extent, the daily TV listings have been strengthened:

* The Sunday listings now appear in the Sunday A.M. feature section, a change that is consistent with the newspaper’s longtime practice of packaging listings all other days in the feature section.

* Added best-bet highlights will help guide that day’s viewing and point to the week ahead. 

The change was prompted by economics and changing times.

TV Week suffered from declining reader interest, fragmentation of the TV program menu and rising newsprint prices.

A readership study of the Lincoln market showed precipitous decline in its use.

From 2003 to 2006, readership of the TV Week section declined more than 10 percent. In addition, the number of  “don’t read” responses was higher for TV Week than any section of the Sunday paper.

The contributing factors are many. Channel surfing provides viewers a quick taste of the increasing range of broadcast and cable programming. Online and on-screen program guides are growing in popularity.

Meanwhile, the cost of keeping this failing product on life-support was steadily rising.

Some readers will be unhappy with this decision, so a TV Hotline has been set up to take reader feedback.

To reach the TV Hotline and to leave a comment, call  (402) 473-7281.

“Your Newspaper” is as an occasional column that will discuss the changing world of journalism and the Lincoln Journal Star. The writer, Michael Nelson, was named editor of the Journal Star this spring after almost 35 years at The Kansas City Star.


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Hank wrote on July 6, 2008 8:22 am:
" Isn't it rather sad that the mere presentation of the facts related to our invasion and occupation of Iraq is criticized? Rather, we should be seeing much more detail on the costs of a war started so dishonestly and conducted so incompetently. Perhaps we just don't want to admit that we voted for people who turned out to be war criminals, and we get mad when so inconvenient fact shakes us out of our country's collective state of denial. "

 Edgar Pearlstein wrote on July 6, 2008 11:17 am:
" Please bring back the weekly TV schedule. I always save it for the entire week, and use it.

If you won't do that, at least publish the Sunday daytime schedules, which tell the morning interview programs and things in the afternoon like sports events, "

 citizen wrote on July 6, 2008 11:31 am:
" There appears to be some new leadership at LJS...let me know when you dump your cartoonist and I will renew my subscription. "

 Straight Thinker wrote on July 6, 2008 11:43 am:
" No TV listings section? Not even the Sunday daytime listings? Today's TV area looked like a poor afterthought. Lee is capable of a lot better than that. Yeesh...my family always used that section...and a lot of ad insert sections were also missing in my paper today, like Best Buy, etc...trying to give me another reason to get rid of the paper I have gotten daily since 1972?? Is this the reward I get for being such a loyal subscriber for 36 years? Less and less? "

 Norm wrote on July 6, 2008 4:25 pm:
" For those of us who use the printed TV listings, why not publish the listings on line for the whole week, so we can print them out all at one time? "

 Julie wrote on July 6, 2008 5:22 pm:
" I looked all over for the guide and then saw it in the paper. I am very disappointed. "

 Dave wrote on July 6, 2008 6:01 pm:
" There are numerous online publications of up-to-the-minute TV schedules by cable provider; it should take less than 5 minutes to find them. I use Yahoo's TV listings, but certainly Time-Warner has them online also.

I've been impressed with the LJS editorials lately. The people of Lincoln need an advocate to speak truth to power, and the LJS is the only practical voice capable of this. Keep up the good work.

The media times-- they are a-changin'. "

 Cathy Smith wrote on July 6, 2008 9:25 pm:
" I am extremely upset and irritated that this newspaper has chosen to stop printing the TV Guide schedule. When I paid for my subscription that portion of the newspaper was included in my subscription fee. Is the Lincoln Journal Star now going to refund a portion of what has been paid for or just keep my money and not provide the full, complete service that I paid for? I'm sorry, but from where I come from if someone keeps what you have paid for & rightfully belongs to you, that is theft! If I purchased a new car, paid for it & then when I went to pick it up it no longer had seats, I would expect either a refund or the seats to be included. "

 Shelley wrote on July 6, 2008 10:27 pm:
" I spent MORE time today channel surfing because I couldn't quickly scan the tv programming for the day... especially to catch up with the news talk and sports. Apparently the LJS thinks that the only time folks watch tv on the weekends is between 6 and 10 pm!! I am so disappointed- Journal still costs more than World Herald and now you get less! "

 TV Week Fan wrote on July 6, 2008 10:40 pm:
" I'm disappointed, but I guess I can understand the reasoning behind the decision to discontinue TV Week. I would suggest that if the daily paper is our only source, that you at least print programming until midnight, as TV Week did. "

 get over it wrote on July 6, 2008 10:59 pm:
" TV sections are a waste...if you need your TV listings so bad then buy a copy of TV Guide...oh wait...a years subscription costs to that sad mag costs more than what I pay a year for LJS. I will support losing that section (I never read or need it) if that means you will keep up with other sections. "

 JB wrote on July 6, 2008 11:08 pm:
" No TV schedule. Over the years it has got smaller and smaller, while the paper got more expensive. Used to have a movie listing. A sports highlight. It had the weekday daytime schedule. Now we don't even get a weekend daytime listing. The onscreen schedule is only good for the next hour and the on-line takes forever to see a whole week. The DVR program still sucks. I believe that less expensive Omaha paper has a better schedule anyway. I still miss the Focus and Parade. "

 David wrote on July 6, 2008 11:45 pm:
" If the money the LJS and Lee Enterprises saves by not publishing the TV schedule is used to keep reporters working on real news stories then I'm 100 percent for it. "

 Laurie wrote on July 7, 2008 12:48 am:
" Oh for heaven's sake. For the record, I'm glad you stopped printing the TV listings. It was a waste of paper and time for you AND me. You don't have to deliver it and I don't have to dispose of it.
On a more serious note, I'm amazed that someone would interpret publishing names of soldiers killed as anti-war sentiment. How could it be anything but the opposite? Are we to stop "supporting the troops" once they die? Simply lump them all together as "war dead" and build them a monument 50 years from now? That soldier was a person who gave the ultimate- they deserve to be publicly honored and people should feel obligated to read and reflect, not pretend it didn't happen. "

 Max A. wrote on July 7, 2008 7:23 am:
" I can't believe you took out the TV section! Like many others, I keep and refer to it all week long. It does not go into the recyle until Sunday morning. As one person suggested, publish it on-line so that I can at least print it and have it to refer to. There are many, many people who utilize the TV section. "

 E Jr wrote on July 7, 2008 9:42 am:
" Count me as another person who is disappointed with the elimination of the TV section. It is the only section of the paper that I use all week. "

 Gene Cook wrote on July 7, 2008 10:06 am:
" We have subscribed to the LJS for over thirty years and we may be about to end our subscription unless the Sunday paper returns to the June29th format. We are not happy one bit with the change in the TV schedule and are very seriously thinking about dropping the paper. What happened to the Sunday crossword puzzle that was normally in the section where the "new", horrible, watered down, TV schedule appeared? We have worked that puzzle for years and do not care for the Los Angles Times puzzle. (You went through the trouble of selecting an additional puzzle, a few years back, and now you dump the puzzle that has been in the paper for years! - Thanks for nothing!!!!) This is really one of the dumber things LJS has ever done. Not everyone in town has DVR's etc. and many rely on the TV schedule as it was. It was bad enough when it was chopped down years ago from a more comprehensive schedule to what we were getting, but the current change is totally unacceptable. The Omaha paper is looking better all the time. "

 CGO wrote on July 7, 2008 12:19 pm:
" I, too, am disappointed in the decision to discontinue TV Week. It was an easy-to-use, convenient resource for many. It was particularly useful for my mother, who at 94 has poor vision and can no longer read the paper. She could, however, scan my TV Week with her CCTV and plan her TV viewing. Perhaps local TV stations could subsidize TV Week by advertising their upcoming specials, events, charity drives, and so on.

Please keep publishing the names of those killed in Iraq. I am not close to anyone serving overseas, so this helps put faces to the figures. "

 Movie Watcher wrote on July 7, 2008 12:41 pm:
" I understand why you discontinued the TV Week, but how do I now find TV movies for Saturday and Sunday. I have no computer at home. Maybe you could include the daytime listings on Saturday and Sunday. "

 Cindy wrote on July 7, 2008 2:19 pm:
" My husband and I have subscribed since 1978. I don't know who the people were that did your surveys but I do utilize the TV weekly. I give it to my 86 year old mother that lives in a nursing home.She doesn't have access to a computer and wouldn't know what to do with one if she did. She spends a lot of time watching TV and has said many times that she would be lost with out the TV weekly secion. Her eyesight is bad and she uses a magnifying glass and can't read the TV listings on cable. I checked into TV Guide magazine but the local channel numbers are not listed. I am now checking out the Time Warner site for a schedule. I know of other papers that dropped their TV sections over the years and received MANY complaints from their readers. They didn't listen to them either so I know it won't do any good to complain. I just wish you would put the schedule on your website so we could download them. "

 bobo wrote on July 7, 2008 2:21 pm:
" So let me get this straight - the Patriotic thing to do would be to ignore the people who die in war? If you pay attention to those who die you must be anti-war. Where do these people come from??? "

 Crossword wrote on July 7, 2008 2:31 pm:
" I miss the crossword also. It is a better one than the Los Angeles one that was in the want ads section. If you are going to get rid of one, please let it be that one and bring back the one you took out last week. "

 Bazi wrote on July 7, 2008 3:53 pm:
" I agree with many of these comments regarding the elimination TV schedule. My parents use(d) this on a regular basis and are unhappy with the elimination of it. Granted not everyone used the TV schedule but if you follow the logic of the LJS, if people aren't reading the section - why have it? Well, I personally NEVER read the multiple page car section that is printed on Saturday's - I wonder how many do. So how about surveying that, getting a reader count and then returning the TV schedule? The LJS is alienating the specific group of customers that READ the LJS in hard copy - are they trying to push more users towards the electronic version used more frequently by younger readers? Please rethink this and return the TV schedule. "

 Steve Baily wrote on July 7, 2008 4:47 pm:
" What a disappointment, the Journal Star has discontinued the weekly TV schedule in the Sunday paper! No one polled me, I vote to bring it back!
I don't receive a paper every day, only the weekends and Wednesday. "

 Ditto for TV listing wrote on July 7, 2008 6:12 pm:
" My mother also used the TV listing and kept it all week. And I miss the crossword. "

 John wrote on July 8, 2008 12:38 pm:
" Let's see, you discontinue the TV section because not everyone reads it. Well not everyone reads the Sports section so why not discontinue it. Most people I know ignore L.Kent's record and movie reviews, why not discontinue them. Several years ago, you cut the weekday day time and late night listings, now you do the samething on weekends. According to your logic, people in Lincoln don't watch TV from 11:00 pm at night to 6:00 pm in the evening. Well for you information, there are a lot of Lincolnites who because of work or other reasons are awake late at night or during the day and watch TV, but you in your wisdom have decided to discriminate against them. Maybe it is time to start subscribing to a real newspaper like the World Herald. "

 Randle Jon E. wrote on July 9, 2008 1:30 am:
" Working in Social Services for 22 years,I should not be surprised/and or frustrated with a few of the comments posted here. I won't go through and pick out names/monikers, though I have learned (sometimes the hard way) not to make assumptions or judge OTHER people based on my or my family/circle of friends experiences. Some of the comments above are so egotistical and judgemental it angers me. Despite the times and what is available, not everyone has a computer or Internet access - did you ever consider handicapped or disabled people? The paper might be their LUXURY item. Despite what many think, a "disability" check is barely enough to cover rent/mortgage and expenses-not food or entertainment'. Oh - FOOD stamps, I forgot-I am totally disabled and I get 10.00 a month. I am just fortunate to have a computer & Internet through friends & family. I relied on the TV guide, as did many people I know. Can not afford cable-LJS says its' survey said 'not many read TV guide', duh, I checked it for programs-not for my reading pleasure. I'll drop and persuade all I can. "

 JJ wrote on July 9, 2008 8:22 am:
" I, too, am disappointed in the decision to drop TV Hotline -- please bring it back in some format! "

 TV Week Supporter wrote on July 13, 2008 11:06 am:
" I looked through the July 13th Sunday paper with hope this morning, but again, was disappointed. I guess the LJS doesn't care what the readers think, afterall. They were kind enough to give us a place to complain, but nothing comes of it since the decision was made. I miss the TV week section. I agree, I didn't READ the TV week section but it was by far the most used section of our paper through the whole week. No other section the Sunday paper was looked at as frequently. Please reconsider and print the TV listings as a section so we have an easy way to check the television listings. If you must cut sections, look at others and bring back the TV Week listings. "

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