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Weekly UpdatesOn consecutive days a while back, two groups of "real" people came in to talk to the Mobile Press-Register editorial board. They weren't politicians, and they weren't our usual suspects among community activists.
The first group, from Mobile's neighboring city of Prichard, wanted to talk about high water bills and a water and sewer board that charged $275 just to look at a public record.
The second group, from neighboring Baldwin County, wanted to talk about coastal insurance costs. Some of them had driven an hour to see us.
Both groups were polite and organized. The Prichard citizens were happy with our news coverage and editorials, while the Baldwin County group was rather critical.
They didn't care that newspapers are in trouble, or that cutbacks affect our news and editorial operations. They came to talk to us in person because they wanted help with their causes and they expect us to provide leadership.
Can an editorial board do that through email and online forums?
Sure. Can we do it as well? No.
We've all had to take on more duties with fewer people, and most of us are encouraged to host forums, blog, and otherwise interact with often-anonymous folks online.
The result: Editorial page editors and writers worry about how to make time for Facebook contacts, even as we try to get out of having to go to editorial board meetings to speak with the public face to face.
Doesn't a person who wants to sit down and talk to you, not interact with you, deserve your attention ahead of a computer presence with a screen name? Just as you become angry when the store clerk answers the phone while you're standing in line with your purchase in hand, aren't we doing the same thing to our readers and potential readers when we don't welcome their visits?
In Mobile, our editorial board is seen as an important community leader. If we abandon that role for the Web, we've given real people one more reason not to care about the future of our newspaper.
Jane Nicholes is an editorial writer with the Press-Register in Mobile, Alabama. Email jnicholes@pressregister.com
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