Reader input leads to changes at Valley Record

I said I'd be back to bug you, and here I am.
Last year I wrote a column asking readers what they thought we could do to make the paper better serve their needs. I explained that from where we stood, we knew sports, education and city news coverage was important.

I said I’d be back to bug you, and here I am.

Last year I wrote a column asking readers what they thought we could do to make the paper better serve their needs. I explained that from where we stood, we knew sports, education and city news coverage was important. Other than that, we had a solid idea of what readers wanted to see, but had really never taken the time to ask them in such a broad and open-ended fashion.

I received a number of calls and e-mails regarding the column. Some readers thought we were doing fine, while others had concerns. While some enjoyed the sports coverage, others thought it didn’t lend enough attention to athletes not in high school. Others wanted expanded city government coverage, while others thought we should scale back and focus more on stories about people in the Valley.

Many who contacted us said they’d like to see more arts coverage. While athletics is a worthy pastime, the local artisans should be profiled, they told us.

So what have we changed?

Well, in the past few months we’ve tried to make information in the paper as easy to find as possible. Briefs now adorn the left-hand column of individual sections. These will be published weekly and readers are encouraged to fax or e-mail items to include in these sections.

To incorporate the arts, we’ve started to run a lifestyle page. This section will alternate with our business section and will appear every other week. Our aim is to feature local artists, or those residents doing something interesting or out of the ordinary. The page also will feature monthly columns dealing with the arts, gardening and life in the Valley.

We think we’re moving in the right direction, but we still have decisions to make and your input and suggestions will play a large role in the process. We’d like to hear from you. Tell us what you’d like to see in the paper. What items do you find important or interesting?

In the newspaper business, when there’s a space crunch items must be prioritized and then some are cut. Here at the Valley Record a couple of the items that are usually the first to go when its deadline time and we need to clear some space are police and fire reports, and sometimes certain calendar items.

Maybe we’re off base when we cut those items. Maybe you’d like to see more police reports or calendar items.

Whatever it is we can do better, let us know.

Please call or e-mail me with your suggestions. I can be reached by calling (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at travis.peterson@valleyrecord.com.