Each week, we receive dozens of emails from readers.
Some simply want to compliment us on our work.
Others have questions about how we gather and report the news.
Then, there are messages like this:
“I cannot deal with the endless framing of stories to the negative, especially about the coronavirus. I’m done with this one-sided breathless ‘we’re all going to die/this is the end of the world’ … it’s cheap and superficial.”
Yes, these emails from readers can be blunt. At times, they can be a little hard to swallow.
But they serve as a valuable resource. As I often tell readers, their feedback – good and bad – only helps us improve.
Every now and then, I like to share these messages in a “mailbag” column.
My hope is that you find it insightful to hear from other readers and our editors.
Here’s a question that we seem to receive quite regularly.
“How are non-AJC news articles edited and selected?” one reader asked. “What is the percentage of non-AJC articles that come from other major newspapers in the United States?”
In answering this reader, we explained that we have a team of editors that selects stories from our news services. We rely on four major outlets: The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Tribune Content Agency – made up of newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, to name a few – and The Associated Press.
The Associated Press is a consortium, of sorts. Participating members, such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, share their stories and photographs with other news outlets.
While we don’t get always get it right, these pieces undergo the same rigor as our staff-written stories. We edit them for grammar, punctuation and spelling. We also examine them closely for bias and balance.
Our top priority is to focus our efforts on Georgia, so we use far fewer non-staff stories these days. We’ve also created a special home for a roundup of national and international stories – a page we call “Around the World in 80 Seconds.”
As you might imagine, we received several emails after the U.S. Justice Department dismissed the case against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
“I consider myself a centrist,” one reader wrote. “I listen to NPR, watch FOX and read the AJC. Any thoughts on the lack of coverage of the Flynn case?”
And here’s where we have a confession to make.
In the early days, as word began to circulate that the case would be dropped, we blew it. That story didn’t receive the coverage that it should have, and we admitted as much to readers:
“I wish I had a better answer,” I wrote to one reader, “but the truth of the matter is that this story simply slipped through the cracks.
“As you might imagine, our staff, including those editors who watch national wire services for news such as this, have been heavily focused on the coronavirus. I offer that not as an excuse, but rather, as an explanation, and I promise that we’ll keep a closer eye on this case moving forward.”
Over the last several weeks, we’ve also heard from many readers about the changes we’ve made to the Opinion pages.
Some, such as this reader, were disappointed that we were no longer running national columnists during the weekdays: “Who had the idea to remove columnists from the editorial section? This is very disappointing. While there are many days I don’t agree with either side, left or right, I like to get different perspectives from outside the Atlanta market.”
Others, though, were happy to see that we were focusing on solutions-oriented pieces: “I am writing to say how much I am enjoying the new Solutions page. I had stopped looking at the editorial page entirely because of the caustic columns. They were too extreme and nasty. Thanks for trying something new.”
Many times, readers, even those who at first seem so upset, are surprised to receive a response.
“Thank you,” one reader wrote. “I never imagined I’d hear back from you.”
As for that earlier email message about our “cheap and superficial” coverage?
We reached out to that reader, too.
“I appreciate and respect your passion,” responded Andre Jackson, our editorial page editor. “I can assure you that our news reporters and editors, and even opinion journalists like me, do not seek to frame our coverage as ‘negative.’
“There’s no advantage for us in doing that. What we try to do is present the news in as accurate and unbiased a manner as possible.”
While it might be easy to dismiss that reader’s concerns, the message raised some valid points.
Hard as it may be to believe, there are some silver linings in all of this. While most of the news can be overwhelming, it’s not all negative.
That’s why, early on, we decided to paint a picture of how the pandemic brought out the best in so many Metro Atlantans. Since the outbreak, we’ve been offering even more inspiring and uplifting stories. If you may remember, we even devoted an entire front page to portraits of those who battled this invisible enemy – and lived to tell about it.
That email also pointed to a larger issue.
Readers turn to us to help them make sense of the world around them.
When we let them down, or when we fall short, we want to hear from them.
The best journalism, after all, stems from two-way conversations.
With that in mind, if you have any questions about our news-gathering processes or concerns about our coverage, please feel free to reach out to us and let us know. You’ll find the email addresses of the newsroom’s top editors on Page A2 of the newspaper.
We promise to take the criticism in the spirit in which it is intended. (Remember, though, let’s try to keep the conversation respectful.)
After all, as I like to say, your feedback will only help us improve.
Mark Waligore is Managing Editor and Senior Director.
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