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July 19, 2002/Av 10 5762, Vol. 54, No. 44
What do you want to know?
FLO ECKSTEIN
Publisher
The times, for better and for worse, are always changing.
Astute citizens invest considerable time and energy rummaging through the Internet, skimming the channels and scanning the headlines to understand what's happening and how it impacts their lives.
Geographic distance no longer matters much. It hits home hard for American Jews when a homicidal bomber murders seder celebrants in Netanya, Israel, 8,000 miles away.
Newpaper editors and publishers constantly strive to give readers the timely, reliable facts and analysis they want and need. Those of us who write for Jewish audiences recognize our unique responsibility to deliver information not available in the general press, ranging from how to create a Jewish home to the historical significance of Tisha b'Av; from local day-school enrollment figures to anti-Semitism in France; from the rebirth of Jewish life in Eastern Europe to the economic impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To help us grasp what readers want, we can turn to the Readership Institute at Northwestern University, sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America and the Society of Newspaper Editors. Director Jon Lavine met with 80 editors and publishers at the American Jewish Press Association's annual meeting in Evanston, Ill., last month, to talk about the institute's Impact study of 100 U.S. daily newspapers and 37,000 readers, aimed at helping newspapers do a better job of serving readers.
The study found that "almost every kind of improvement in service, editorial quality, brand perception and advertising quality has the potential to increase customer satisfaction and readership."
On the surface, that's no surprise. Of course, readers want timely delivery (good service); well-written stories (editorial quality); dependable focus (brand perception); and helpful ads (advertising quality).
On further assessment, the findings offer assurance that readers may welcome every improvement we make. In recent months, we've introduced many innovations to make the Jewish News more relevant to readers - adding frequent profiles of local people; weekly education, youth and health coverage; livelier special sections; and a redesign, including full color on Page 1 and an updated look throughout. In response to events in the Middle East, we've expanded our Israel coverage.
Perhaps the most important recommendation in the Impact study is that a newspaper must create "an adaptive, constructive (organizational) culture that is attuned to readers." Readers, after all, are our reason for being - our customers, our critics, the center of our universe.
We therefore invite you - in fact, we implore you - to let us know what we can do to create a community newspaper that offers what you want and need to lead an informed Jewish life.
Contact the writer at flo_eckstein@jewishaz.com. The Readership Institute reports are available at www.readership.org.
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