The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 16

Ties that bind a community, a newspaper

By Amanda Bennett
Editor of The Inquirer

The week of Oct. 9, 62 African American women from all around the region gathered at The Inquirer, sipping tea and eating brightly colored sandwiches. There were businesswomen and teachers, politicians and students, ministers and mothers. They were invited by Deputy Managing Editor Sandra Long, as part of our year-long Community Conversations project.

The purpose was partly social, partly very serious business. After tea, the women all sat down to talk with the paper's reporters and editors and photographers about their lives, their concerns, the issues they saw in their communities -- and how The Inquirer could better reflect them in our pages.

Long says that everyone who attended learned something new. The editors of the paper, she told the participants in a follow-up e-mail, "heard you say you want to see more stories about youth in the paper; you want more about health issues; we heard you say you want an African American columnist on the metro page; you want stories about improving the quality of education; more on gender diversity; more human-interest stories; and more stories about small businesses."

Over the coming weeks, we're going to be working hard to follow up on as many of these concerns as possible.

During any given week, The Inquirer reaches 1.9 million people -- nearly half of all the adults in the eight-county Philadelphia region. Nearly 60 percent of all adults in the region read the Sunday Inquirer at least once a month. More than any of the other media, we link people in this region together through our newspaper and Web sites.

One thing a news organization can do for its community is to help it to truly be a community.

So how can we do that?

For one thing, we simply let you know what's going on -- in your schools, with your politicians, with your tax dollars, your streets, your medical care and the things you do for fun. We dig deep behind the scenes to see what is working well and what isn't. We help keep important issues at the forefront.

But to help bind the community together, we have to be part of the community. And that was why we launched our Community Conversations.

Every department in the newsroom has been inviting groups in to talk. We want to get to know you better, and to have you get to know us better as well. Our ultimate goal is to better reflect you and your lives in the pages of our paper.

Last week, in addition to the African American women, we brought together a group of Iraq veterans who talked to us about their work among the Iraqi people; about the extra help New Jersey gives to small-business owners who are called up for duty; and about the insurgency's use of the media to get its message across. We plan to follow up on family and home-front issues, and to learn more about how forces are equipped to deal with the insurgency.

Earlier this year, our education writers convened teachers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Next week, we have invited in a group of students -- many of whom participate in the Philadelphia-based site http://teenzoneonline.com or write for the "Being YOUng" feature in Neighbors. The students, 10th through 12th graders, will talk to us about how they get their news, the technology they use, and what type of information they are looking for in print and online.

At some sessions, we want to learn from our readers' expertise. For example, we'll soon be hosting area bloggers. At some sessions, we are sharing our own expertise. In July, on the eve of the Live 8 concert on the Parkway, we worked with a panel of experts to discuss Africa's problems, debate possible solutions and take questions, comments -- and sometimes criticism -- from a lively audience of more than 200.

This month, we will be holding sessions for readers who have wondered about how different parts of the paper -- stories, photographs, headlines -- come together. (There will be a session on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. To take part, call 215-854-2306 or e-mail readerchats@phillynews.com.)

As for me, I've been collecting names of readers who have suggested changes in the paper; I'll be hosting a session for you later on this year. If you have ideas for Community Conversations that you feel might be useful or informative for you or for us, please let us know.