Expect local coverage to improve at the Advertiser
Readers know what they want — and say so
It’s always enlightening to spend an evening listening to readers. They always are frank. They are always to-the-point. They are always honest.
Last week, The Daily Advertiser had invited a group of readers to come discuss the newspaper.
“I want to know who died. I want to know who was arrested. And I want to know who got married,” one reader said.
Sounds simple enough. But newspapers need to listen to readers in order to stay on top of what they care about.
For some readers, it’s not just about obits, arrests and weddings. They tell me it’s about giving them something they can’t get anywhere else. It’s about telling the community’s story, every day in every section.
In the coming weeks, The Daily Advertiser will roll out additional coverage on Acadiana. Jim Bradshaw, recently promoted to regional editor, is leading this effort. He’s joined by Kayla Gagnet, a new reporter at the newspaper. Claudia Laws is a new photographer, who starts this week.
My objective is to continue stem-to-stern coverage in Lafayette but also to give our readers throughout Acadiana a better representation of the news events in their communities, in their neighborhoods, in their schools. . .
. . . Also this week, general assignment reporter Marsha Sills has a new assignment. Starting Monday, she’ll be charged with covering the University of Louisiana. The university is a small city, as all of you know. For many months, we have been without a university reporter. But that changes Monday and so will the level of coverage the university has seen. In addition to sports coverage, UL Lafayette deserves academic and social coverage. Marsha will provide that.
Not only do those on campus want to know what’s going on. But those off-campus care equally as much. It’s the beginning of what I hope will be extensive coverage of a place that is in the heart of our city.
These are just a few changes we’ve made to make The Daily Advertiser more vital in the lives of its readers. I want to thank all the readers who have joined us for discussions and to the ones who will be joining us in the future. If you’d like to be part of a discussion group, contact me at
jmetzger@theadvertiser.com
What I want as an editor is feedback about what you’re reading. Thankfully, there is always a steady source of that.
(Juli Metzger is executive editor of The Daily Advertiser.)
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