Of marches and walkathons

Sandy Banks' Tuesday column was about an event that drew thousands on Sunday -- and that wasn't covered otherwise in the L.A. Times.

"I was astonished to find no article in The Times regarding the EIF Run/Walk for Women held at the Coliseum," wrote Gerry Suzuki of Torrance on Sunday. "Did I somehow overlook it?  When 50,000 or more people  show up to support such a worthwhile fundraiser, it deserves attention. Most of the participants wore signs on their backs honoring several friends or relatives. You found space to report a rally of 400 parents supporting students of Crenshaw High and to report a march of about 400 in Hollywood supporting China's Olympics. Also an article about Ojai's Pastie Lady.  Are those items so important that there was no space left for an event involving more than 50,000? What kind of newspaper can ignore a topic  affecting so many local people?" Donna Trimingham of Redondo Beach wrote too: "How about next year you come walk with me and the 60,000 others or at least give us a paragraph or two in your paper."

It's not uncommon to get such complaints every month or two, given the fact that a region this size gives rise regularly to well-attended events, be they protest marches or fundraising rallies for a good cause.

Scoring high school sports

The Times has found something of an answer to a struggle it has had for years: Getting reports from as many fields, courts, tracks and pools as possible from nearly 700 high schools in The Times' five-county region, and then giving readers more of what they want when they ask for local coverage.

Nowadays the Sports desk puts more reports on games than ever online, at Varsity Times Insider; and as ever, editors count on coaches and schools to send in the scores and stats on games and matches.

Denny Lennon is both reader and coach, an overlap not uncommon in those wanting more from The Times. He wrote in response to a column by Eric Sondheimer on April 9 about the Corona del Mar volleyball team, "Given my position as director of beach volleyball for USA Volleyball, I was pleased to see coverage of boys in the Sports section today. However, as a reader of the L.A. Times for over 40 years, I  prefer to read about teams that are at least in L.A. County. Let web-based or Orange County newspapers cover their activities, we have boys powers like Loyola or Mira Costa that deserve time in the Los Angeles Times."

In other words, every reader thinks of "local" as his or her area, which might mean anywhere in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside or San Bernardino counties. That's what makes Varsity Times key to coverage. Off the main page, readers will find regional coverage, where Times reporters blog about high school sports around the Southland. There are six blogs: the City Section (schools in the L.A. Unified School District) and the Southern Section, which includes schools in the San Fernando Valley/North, the Inland Empire, San Gabriel Valley, Orange County and L.A. County (those not in the City Section). There's even a blog called Recruiting Buzz, conversations about where local athletes are going to college.

Hot off the presses

What's in The Times gets its fair number of comments and criticisms, but so does the paper itself. The physical thing that readers (of the print version) hold, that is. And readers ask the darnedest questions. The question from Tom Tetzlaff of Lake Forest ended up being sent on behalf of his rabbit: "I'd heard that The Times was printed using soy ink ... even the color photos? Obviously the inserts you don't have complete control over. Need to know."

The short answer: Yes. The longer answer is found on a link off latimes.com:

http://www.latimes.com/services/newspaper/mediacenter/la-mediacenter-environment,0,3740699.story

Tetzlaff's note of thanks for the link included a postscript. "Not to give you the impression that we don't READ The Times (we do),  we just wanted to know if our rabbit could make bedding out of it after we're done with a copy. Another way of recycling."

Husbandry aside, there are other questions from readers who prefer to get their news on paper. Some complain when they end up with dirty hands. Lay off the hand lotion till you're done reading, advises Greg Malcolm, director of operations. Even the water-soluble soy-based ink, which is highly resistant to rub-off, does sometimes leave avid readers with gray hands.

Maintaining dance coverage

A number of readers and others who are involved in the arts have sent notes asking what The Times' plans are for dance coverage. Questions have come in since readers learned that longtime dance writer Lewis Segal was among those who took the buyout (his last day was Friday).

Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, the chairwoman of the Department of Dance at CSU Long Beach, put it this way in an e-mail: "I am delighted to see the vast coverage of the arts, and write to implore you to maintain this coverage so that the Southern California communities will remain aware and informed of the trends and events in our area.  Though the reality of online access to news may be accelerating beyond the subscriptions to the printed page, there are masses in our society who still do not have computers at home and who rely on the newspaper as a source of information. Please do not diminish the coverage of the arts and dance in the Los Angeles Times."

"Doonesbury" clamor

Almost 100 readers have called or written to complain that "Doonesbury" seems to have been yanked from the comics pages. The strip is, in fact, gone, but only temporarily while Garry Trudeau takes some time off. Editors tried to alert readers with a box in Monday's Calendar section next to the comics headlined "Comics sampling." On Tuesday the headline was changed to "Trudeau vacation." Both days the box explained that the artist was taking time off, and The Times would fill that space by trying out new strips until mid-June. Sherry Stern, the editor who oversees the comics, explains in this message:

latimes.com and the L.A. Times

Beverly Price of Encinitas writes, "I frequently go online to find an article I read in order to e-mail a link or cite it in a website/blog. I have a difficult time finding the article because it's not listed under the headline given it in the paper. Sometimes I can't find the article at all. Does the L.A. Times want to be totally irrelevant to the Internet?"

In fact, online headlines differ from those in print for just the opposite reason, and the way they're written is just one factor in why latimes.com readership has increased dramatically in recent months. But Price's note touches on another question -- how well (or not) the search function works at latimes.com -- and those are two of several questions we get regularly from readers frustrated or curious about The Times online.

Meredith Artley, Executive Editor, Interactive, gives some answers.

How'd you get that shot?

As is evident from a recent action shot at the Pac-10 basketball tournament, there’s more to photographing a big event than just showing up with a couple of cameras and sitting courtside. Robert Gauthier took the picture from on high that showed UCLA's Kevin Love and Stanford's Robin Lopez leaping upward toward the hoop.

How'd Gauthier do it?

Very carefully, one would imagine. The longer answer comes from the photographer.

Wrote Gauthier in an e-mail, "Photographers often will set up remote cameras to create a more diverse set of images.  That was the case Saturday, March 15, at the final game between UCLA and Stanford.  I was especially interested in getting a photo of UCLA center Kevin Love battling with Stanford twin brothers Brook and Robin Lopez.

"The photo that ran on Sunday’s Sports page was taken with a remote camera mounted high above the court in the rafters of Staples Center. Using heavy-duty clamps and cables, the camera is attached to a catwalk railing, framing the image to include players jostling under one of the baskets. A radio receiver is hooked up to the camera, enabling me to trigger it from my position on the floor."

The photographer needs two cameras on the floor as well. For action at the other end of the court, he uses a 300 mm, a long lens. Meanwhile, he's stationed by the rigged-up hoop, and the camera he uses at ground level there has a radio transmitter attached: "Whenever I shoot a frame with this camera, it makes radio contact with the hanging camera, setting off the motor drive."

From Iraq: "Freedom is really expensive"

Foreign Editor Marjorie Miller sent a note to The Times' staffers in Iraq on the fifth anniversary of the start of the war. What follows is her letter to Salar Jaff, thanking the Iraqi staff members for working under dangerous conditions, and Jaff's response.

Dear Salar and the rest of the Iraqi Staff,

On the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion, I wanted to make sure that all of the Iraqis on our staff know how grateful we are for the hard and dangerous work you do for us every day. Please make sure to give our thanks to one and all, in the bureau and out in the hinterland. Whether you're providing translation, reporting, computer support, security, driving, paying bills or even cooking, you are providing essential services and without you we would not have been able to provide our readers with the thousands of smart and human stories we have published in the last five years.

"Where blubber hits the road"

That was the headline on a Feb. 4 article about how elephant seals near San Simeon are getting past fences and flopping their way onto California 1. Reader John De Simio of Los Angeles "roared with laughter" when he read it, he said, adding in his e-mail: "It's a delight to commend the hard-working copy editors for a change. Please pass along a job well and hilariously done to the clever headline writer."

Consider it done, Mr. De Simio: The note was sent to the California copy desk, which is where the clever copy editor who wrote the blubber headline, Dave Bowman, works.

Unfortunately, most reader comments about headlines are criticisms. They come in two forms.

1. Readers send annoyed notes to reporters, assuming they wrote the words that top their stories. They don't; copy editors do.

2. Readers raise concerns that that a headline didn't accurately capture the meaning of the story, which is a problem, they say, because most people get the news by simply scanning headlines.

Point No. 2 touches on the essence of headlines: They are limited by the layout of a page, which often means they're only a few words, and short ones at that. Among the hardest headlines to write are those confined to one column. (Headlines on Web pages -- including many of those in the links below -- are often different, with their own demands and limitations, but that's a topic for another time.)

Copy editors, of course, do more than write headlines. They are the last editors to review stories before they're published. Brad Hanson on the Business copy desk described his work, and that of fellow copy editors, this way: "If a copy editor has done a good job, the work is invisible. They correct errors, polish grammar and tighten copy. Their job is to make the writer look good and to defend the integrity of the publication."

Hanson has it almost right -- but a copy editor's work is quite visible when it comes to the headlines. There are sure to be more complaints featured in future postings; meanwhile, here's a chance to look at some examples of the good.

Readers still miss TV Times

It's been almost a year since it stopped being published, but some 15 to 20 readers a week still call The Times to ask editors to bring back TV Times.

It's a relatively high number of requests, compared to other reader comments. But editors point out that even without the weekly guidebook, The Times continues provides a number of ways for readers to get TV viewers the information they need.

• A page in the Calendar section each day provides much of the on-air programming.
• Sunday's Calendar goes into more details for the week ahead.
• And comprehensive listings are online, where readers have two choices at www.latimes.com/tvtimes. By entering their zip code and cable or satellite provider, they will get customized listings. Or they can choose the "print at home" option and download a week of TV listings for their own use.

Bullet point by bullet point, some readers still are unhappy.

The ever-changing weather...page

Two cities are back in the news: The news on the weather page, that is.

In an update to a previous posting that included information about a reduction in the number of cities listed, as well as to a follow-up posting reporting that several cities were back, Weather Page Editor Mark Phillips says that he's been able to restore Auckland and Tel Aviv. Page designers did some extra designing to get the temperatures listed again for those cities.

Market summary not MIA, just moved

Plenty of callers noticed what they thought was missing information on the front of Business starting last weekend. It wasn't missing -- only moved -- but at least two dozen readers didn't see the daily market summary that used to be in a box on the bottom of Page C1. Tom Moore of Monterey Park was one who initially didn't see that almost the same information is there. It's now in a ticker-tape-type line that runs under the date near the top of the page.

Markets editor Arthur Buckler sent back a note in response to readers' inquiries to say, "I think the readers are talking about a design change that took effect Saturday. We used to run key daily market stats in a table at the bottom of C1 under the heading 'Markets.' We now run pretty much the same stats in a strip across the top of C1. Content-wise, the only change is we no longer include the value of the yen."

What still runs in Business are figures for the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, gold, oil, Euro, U.S. T-bill and U.S. T-note.

Moore added that he thought a small box explaining the change would have been helpful. Editors agree: In the next few days, they plan to print a note to readers to let them know where the information can now be found.

Voter Guide vs. endorsements

A reader in the Valley who left only her first name, Anita, saw the Voter Guide in the Jan. 20 California section and was confused. Usually, she said in a voicemail message left on the readers' representative line, The Times gives its endorsements. This seemed different. "Am I missing something?" she asked.

What Anita and others saw that Sunday was a Voter Guide that is produced by reporters and editors in the newsroom. It's not the same as the recommendations Anita was asking about. Those are endorsements that appear on the editorial page and are written by the editorial board, which is separate from the newsroom.

As the headline on the Voter Guide put it, this is "A California primary that matters," and the multiple stories in the section were intended to be a thorough and neutral report on the various issues and aspects of what's on the ballot on Feb. 5.

The editorial board provides voters its own form of guidance. And what Anita missed are the five recommendations on which way to vote that the editorial board has published since early this year. 

The stats on the weather page

Weather fascinates people, a fact reflected in the number of calls and e-mails that come in at a steady pace dealing with the moon and the sun and the tides and every other feature on the print edition's weather page. Since Jan. 16, changes to the page have brought a different sort of question -- "Where has Helsinki gone?" and "Where's Sault Ste. Marie?" The answer to the question of missing cities is in another posting on this page, one that explains the narrower width of pages. (The good news is, 10 of those cities are back as of Jan. 25. Reappearing are six U.S. cities -- Columbia, S.C.; Medford, Ore.; Pueblo, Colo.; San Antonio; Springfield, Mo.; and Tallahassee. Also part of the list again are four worldwide cities -- Brussels; Edinburgh; Helsinki; and Regina. As for why there's room now for those cities: In redesigning the page, editors initially miscalculated what could fit.)

But lots of other questions come in regularly, too, about the page that features more than just temperatures. Details are given for surf, sea, diving conditions and the tides; there's an ultraviolet index, air quality readings and more. (Much of the same information is at a link at latimes.com -- the online site includes the ability to search for other weather-related facts, too. Doppler radar sites, anyone?)

Mark Phillips has been involved in editing the weather page since it was a half-page in the mid-1980s, and has been editor full-time for almost 20 years. He gives some answers to most-often asked questions.

O'Shea's leaving: comments from readers

Here's a sampling of the 60+ comments sent to the L.A. Times in reaction to the news of Jim O'Shea's leaving.

From Doug Frost of Claremont: "Regardless of the short term, anyone that can be considered an owner of the Los Angeles Times needs to keep in mind that constant reduction of the quality as well as quantity of news appearing in the newspaper inevitably leads to reduction in readership."

From Matt Cullers of Chino Hills: "So another editor is leaving over budget cuts?  Why don’t you raise my subscription from $44.00 to $50.00 so we can retain quality people and what I think is the greatest newspaper in the world?  It's just like the state of California budget, if we want quality services, we, the public, are going to have to pay for them. What is The Times coming to?  Just another outlet for AP stories all over the world?  I hope not, or then you will certainly lose my business."

From Paul Silverman of North Hollywood: "Boy, oh boy...How can anyone say that The Times is going down the toilet, when, just today, you ran a story that Keifer Sutherland's release from jail was a non-story. With great articles like this, the Pulitzer is a sure thing. Keep up the shallow work, people."

From Betty Haegelin of Torrance: "So this is the new regime? Dismissing Editor James O'Shea because he refused to enforce budget cuts imposed by the paper's out-of-town owners seems like old times to me. I am a subscriber and an avid online reader and I have noticed the struggle to maintain quality throughout the paper's budgetary woes and various owners. I have continued to subscribe to The Times because I value the local voice and want to encourage and nurture the paper's continuing position as a leading figure in American journalism.  I am disappointed and apprehensive for the future of this paper. I will maintain my subscription. For now."

(Additional comments appear in letters on the Times' opinion pages.)

Editor leaving; readers' initial response

In response to the news of Editor Jim O'Shea's dispute with the publisher that has led to O'Shea's departure, some two dozen readers have called and sent notes, many of which can be summarized in a line from one reader: "This is really a sad, sad state of affairs."

Publisher David Hiller's statement to the staff, and a transcript of an address to the staff that O'Shea made Monday morning, are posted below.

A link to the latest Times article is here. And a related article in Editor and Publisher is here.

Changing the presses at The Times

The question came on Tuesday from Arman Afagh of Riverside, who looked at the weather page and asked why it listed the temperatures of fewer national and international cities than usual. Wrote Afagh, "As far as I can tell, the physical space of the weather page itself is not significantly different."

In pursuit of Britney Spears

The Jan. 5 story on the front of the California section -- and on the latimes.com homepage for a while -- reported that Britney Spears had been hospitalized, and barred from visiting her sons. It was also a look at the reporting frenzy outside her house, reflecting, as the story put it, that "Spears is perhaps the most pursued celebrity in Hollywood."

Some readers feel that The Times itself has pursued that story too much.

"Countless" shows to review

The question usually is: So many shows, so little time -- what's a TV reporting staff to do when it comes to choosing which to review?

Now that there's a writers strike on, the question has become: So few writers, so few new shows -- what's a TV writer to do?

TV editor Kate Aurthur responds.

Blue eyes and evolution

Science stories are well-read but they don't often bring as many questions and comments as the one that ran Dec. 11. That story reported on a study that found, "The pace of human evolution has been increasing at a stunning rate since our ancestors began spreading through Europe, Asia and Africa 40,000 years ago." Not only was evolution a spark for some readers to write, but so was the last line, which quoted University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks, who led the study: "Nobody 10,000 years ago had blue eyes. Why is it that blue-eyed people had a 5% advantage in reproducing compared to non-blue-eyed people? I have no idea."

Science writer Karen Kaplan responds to the readers.

Trump and the consumer reporter

When consumer reporters go after companies or government agencies, some results are predictable: Their targets sometimes object; their readers often write.

The response to recent Consumer Confidential columns about Donald Trump by reporter David Lazarus has  been especially strong, though. More than 200 readers wrote to say thanks, and Trump called to tell Lazarus that he'd see him "in court."

Al Martinez's vacation

The questions have come in since Monday, Dec. 3. Al Martinez's column has been published weekly since it started appearing in the California section in July, but it hasn't run since Nov. 26.

The word from his editor, Alice Short: The columnist will be back soon -- next week, probably. (The small box on Page B3 since Dec. 3 has advised readers that he is on vacation; there was no notice online with his column.)

Physical descriptions

The Dec. 9 expose told of a man who, as the opening line said, "spent six months looking for a boy who didn't exist -- and found him." It had one reader admiring the story but also raising a point that other coverage occasionally brings as well: Why do news articles include certain physical descriptions?

The question here had to do with a talented detective -- who happened to be "short" and "balding."

Hard news in Travel

Travel editor Catharine Hamm hears the question often: "News? Does Travel have news?"

Truly a question asked by someone who doesn't read The Times' Travel section. As Hamm puts it: "Of course it has news. As an industry, it ranks right up there with the arms industry."

A recent article, and reader reaction to it, underscored the point that Travel coverage isn't all sunshine and light.

Missing information

A clarification published Tuesday provided information that wasn't in a Nov. 25 review. The Dec. 2 story of a woman whose life was changed by an errant bullet included a detective's contact information but not specifics on how to help the woman.

Two other stories last week brought up the same question: When does The Times include information that a reader moved to action by a story might need?

The $250 pizza

The editors in Food receive notes fairly often from readers asking why and how  editors pick the restaurants they review. Karen Gray of Los Angeles County says she's enjoyed the reviews but was prompted to write this to The Times after reading on Nov. 28 about a $250 pizza at a restaurant and lounge called Hidden:

"I believe in celebrations, fine wine & spirits, luxury  travel and  more...to each their own. Somehow this pizza is so over the top that it just is offensive. Would you have ordered it if you were there on your own dime? I'd feel better if you simply noted the item on the menu and how you would NEVER order it. Please go back to reporting on things we might actually want to try!"

Food  Editor  Leslie Brenner responds:

The funnies: serious business

Comics aren't only for kids, as editors here know. Adults are fans as well, and they are the ones who most often ask why a certain comic they love from their past or that they've seen in other newspapers isn’t among the 31 that are published daily in The Times -- most of them in Calendar but a few in other sections as well. ("Dilbert" also runs in Business, "In the Bleachers" in Sports and "Love Is" in the classifieds section. On Sunday, 25 are published.)

And readers often ask: Why can't The Times publish a write-in questionnaire so readers can vote for their favorite strips?

Covering candidates

Nancy Cook of San Pedro writes: "I'd like more info about Biden, Edwards and Richardson, PLEASE! Clinton, Obama and Giuliani are at the top of the polls because they are the only ones people ever hear about."

Readers seeking more coverage of certain candidates might have missed stories that The Times has published -- for instance, in this case, there have been front-page pieces on Edwards, Richardson and Biden as as well coverage in a number of other news articles -- but readers are right that more coverage is given to those who are front-runners in any race.

It's one of the concerns raised often during campaigns. So often, in fact, that it's a part of the FAQs on this page (see right rail).

Bill numbers

Of last week's editorial on fuel economy standards, Christian Breiding of Glendale writes: "When The Times publishes an editorial which refers to pending federal or state legislation, it would be helpful if the piece named the legislation by its official name and resolution number." On state and national news stories as well, readers often suggest the same thing.

The Times has a style on how to render bill numbers ("AB 123," for instance, no hyphen) but not on whether to use them. It's been done over the years on an irregular basis, depending on various editors' preferences.

Most of the editors responding suggested that in the future, stories online should include more information -- including data about how individual legislators voted.

Internet immigration hoax

Probably five times a week, the readers' representative office gets a question like this one received recently from Harvey Akeson of Tucson:

"Please help me, an e-mail is making the rounds stating the information is from the L.A. Times.  It may or may not be true.  Can you verify?   Thanks."

Such inquiries have come in for more than a year -- most by e-mail, some by telephone. From the beginning, the notes have shown signs of having been forwarded to many others, who then forward them to many others, before one of the recipients decides to check with the alleged source.

The answer is: The L.A. Times never ran such a story.