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Why can't the Chronicle
be more like the New York Times? By Lani Silver AS A NATIVE San Franciscan and a daily reader of the San Francisco Chronicle, I, like others, am vitally interested in having a local daily paper that represents our great city. It is with this aspiration that I attended an evening of feedback to Chronicle editors and reporters March 30 at the San Francisco Public Library. Participants in the Chronicle's Two Cents column met with top editors to give our opinions on the newspaper. Emotions ran high. Almost everyone who spoke had a longing for an improved paper. It was apparent that this audience of l50 had thought long and hard about ways to make the Chron better. There was a flavor to the meeting, and it was a pungent combination of devotion and frustration. To many in the room, the world is going to hell in a handbasket – and the Chronicle barely notices. One by one, readers told the panel they were distressed by sensationalistic reporting, lack of diversity, and lack of community stories in the Chronicle. In my opinion, the paper is soft on President George W. Bush, and, like most other media, is following a disturbing national trend, one that has a dangerous conservative underpinning. At a long table on the auditorium's stage sat Phil Bronstein (executive vice president and editor), Carolyn White (deputy managing editor, features), Steve Proctor (deputy managing editor), Jan Goben (copy editor, Friday section), Rachel Gordon (city hall reporter), Deborah Brown (Friday section editor), Robert Rosenthal (managing editor), Jason Johnson (reporter), Ilene Lelchuk (city hall reporter), and Chuck Finnie (assistant metro editor, San Francisco). Bronstein's opening comments were preemptive and defensive but had their charm. After lamenting Herb Caen's death for five minutes, he admitted diversity was a problem for the Chronicle, saying, "Just look at this panel," which included only one African American. He explained that two others were on deadline. On the plus side, Bronstein boasted that the reporting on same-sex marriage was the best in the country. The woman next to me nudged me with her elbow and said, "It better be." Hands flew into the air. Despite three failed microphones and editors who listened but did not take notes, people spoke their minds. This was not a shy crowd. Most comments centered on how to improve the paper. The two most prevalent themes of the evening were the need for more reporting on "the community" and the need for more diversity on the Chronicle staff and in the paper. We all take the Chronicle and its shortcomings very personally. Proctor agreed with a comment that the community section was sometimes sparse, particularly in the Sunday edition. Comments included: "Your slant on the decrease in homelessness is bunk." "Why do you go along with the city hall party line?" "We want more articles on seniors." "We want more investigative reporting." "There was nothing in the paper about the San Francisco Marathon." Everyone laughed when a woman said, "How many flipping birthday parties does Michael Tilson Thomas have anyway?" The biggest applause of the night came from the woman who said, "I hate Debra Saunders," To which Bronstein retorted that editorial page writers are meant to challenge our existing beliefs. Other comments included: "You editorialize all of your articles." "Why can't you talk more about outsourcing and greed." "I want to read about unusual things, like the windmills of Holland." One man said he could not believe the lack of good grammar in the paper. The speaker mocked everyone by angrily reading a few poorly constructed sentences from the paper. Rosenthal admitted that it was hard to find good copy editors. The most vociferous critics of the night lambasted the Chronicle for its lack of Asian reporters and coverage of the Asian community. Then it was my turn. On the spot, I cut my four pages of notes into the required 60-second slot. My suggestions for improving the newspaper include: • Have more photographs of people of all ethnicities. • Put all Scott Peterson stories on the back page. • Bring back Stephanie Salter. • Learn more about institutional racism. • List more community events in the calendar. • Give free ads to poor people. • Hire an ombudsperson or specialist on diversity. • Don't be so conservative. • Since there's a society column, have a column on activism. I concluded by asking how corporate control dictated the newspaper's needs. In response Bronstein said, "No one from corporate headquarters has ever interfered with anything that was printed in the newspaper." The audience was united: less sensationalistic writing, more news, and more diversity. Newspapers are meant to be the voice of the people, but the Hearst Corp. decides who gets to speak and who does not. The mainstream press provides a venue for only a certain part of the public. We all know it; it's just hard to face. Lani Silver is an oral historian, women's studies teacher and activist. |
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