AUGUST 30, 1996 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

11

EDITORIAL

Survey tells us: More photos, more Ohio news

As many of you know, the Chronicle recently embarked on a fact-finding mission; a mission with the sole purpose of finding out what our readers really want to see in the pages of their community newspaper.

We want to produce the best newspaper possible, one that accurately and fairly represents the diversity of our community.

There were 842 responses to our reader survey conducted in June. About one half came back to us through the mail, the rest were gathered at various Pride festivals around the state. While we were a bit nervous waiting for the results to come in, when they finally did, we were overwhelmed by the vast majority of you who said you really liked us!

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Seventy-seven percent of you told us that the Chronicle your main source for lesbian and gay news, and 79% said that the front page is the first thing they read. No doubt about it, with numbers like that, we're going to make sure that the front page continues to be informative, as well as visually pleasing and reader-friendly. We also heard that you want to see

more of the news that is happening in

your own backyard, and have us rely less on the Associated

of many separate communities, all of them with their own individual interests and agendas. What brings us together is the common objective of acheiving civil rights for all who have been marginalized by the society in which we live whether we are drag queens, "A-gays," transgender, or lesbian feminists. The Chronicle wants to represent all of these groups fairly and accurately.

TOP RESPONSES

We heard you loud and clear when you said, "Hey, lighten up a little!" Clearly, this is a community that likes to have fun, and many of you asked for more club and music scene news, more concert reviews, and profiles on people from your community. We will soon begin a feature column titled "Pride Profiles" that will highlight different individuals from our communities. Think about who you might like to see profiled, and let us know by calling 216631-8646, faxing us at 216-631-1082 or sending e-mail to ChronOhio@aol.com

"When I get my Chronicle, the first thing I read is..."

79% The front page.

"When I get my Chronicle, the second thing I read is..."

27% Community group columns.

"

"I would like to see more...”

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45% Local news.

Press and other wire reports. We agree, and the last two issues reflect this commitment to providing our readers with quality local

news.

The front page of the August 2 issue carried two Cleveland stories, a Columbus story, and a Cincinnati story. The August 16 issue featured a Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati story, and had it not been for the Republican National Convention, it would have again been all Ohio news. In future issues, many national and international stories will be featured in our News Briefs section of the paper, so those of you who depend on us to keep you up to date on items of interest from around the country will not be disappointed.

Another encouraging response was the makeup of our readership. Forty-nine percent of you identified as male, 49% female, and 1% as other. Past surveys have said that 70% of our readers were men. Since it has always been our goal to represent everyone, it was nice to see a balance in our readership. This gender ratio is a great opportunity for the Chronicle to bridge some of the gaps that exist within our communities. Our features may at times be geared specifically towards lesbians, or towards gay mens' issues, but hopefully this will give us an opportunity to understand each other better.

It is vitally important to the growth of our movement that gay men understand lesbian issues, and lesbians understand why issues of concern to gay men should also be important to them. And, in order to build a truly effective coalition, it is important for all of us to understand why issues that are of concern to bisexuals, transgender people, and people of color should be important to those who identify as gay or lesbian. The Chronicle will strive to be a paper where everyone sees themselves, and hears their issues being discussed.

This concept will continue to be reflected in the kind of Speak Out commentary pieces we run, and the stories we will cover. What your surveys have told us is that not all gays and lesbians are liberal Democrats, or prochoice, or into what is often referred to as the “bar scene." We are a community made up

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When we asked what we could do to make the Chronicle better, we were inundated with suggestions. Some of our favorite responses were, "Print good and disaster testimonials from people who answered personal ads,” "Become a voice for change in Ohio," and

"Have more fun, maybe [add] a gossip column." Some of the responses that indicated we still have some work to do were: "[Be] more pro-community and less biased," "Reflect more diversity within our community," and "More positive news. Paper is too stiff and cold; become less formal.”

"Have more photos" was the answer we received more than any other to that question. Currently, we have seven photographers; three in the Columbus and central Ohio area and four in Cleveland and surrounding suburbs. Often, the reporter who is assigned to cover a story also acts as photographer. Unfortunately, printing photographs is expensive even more so if they are in color as someone requested-but we will attempt to have good, quality photos with as many features as possible.

We broke down the results by zip code so we could see how each area answered the question, "How do you think the Chronicle covers news in your town?" Thirty-six percent of you thought we were doing a pretty good job, but thirty-nine percent said “could be better."

Here's where you come in. With limited resources and a limited staff, we can only be so many places. If you know something that you think might be newsworthy, call it in to the Chronicle tip-line at 216-631-8646, or toll free 800-426-5947, during business hours. Or again, fax or e-mail us the information. Your news is important to us.

The most important thing that came out of this survey was a renewed sense of commitment to doing this work. Those of us that are privileged to do it realize that without our readers, we would all be doing something a lot less fullfilling and probably not nearly as much fun. We are proud to be the largest newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Ohio. Thanks for letting us know that you appreciate what we do, and that for the most part, you feel as if we're on the right track. Thanks also for letting us know where we might improve. We don't want to be just the biggest, but also the best gay and lesbian newspaper in Ohio. Thanks for giving us the information we need to accomplish that goal. ♡

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