THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406110008
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Lynn Feigenbaum
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: Medium
That was the gist of reader sentiment after the new section made its debut Tuesday, along with other changes: a new full-color weather report and an expanded People column.
{REST} Readers had plenty to say about all the changes - more than 300 called by week's end. Like daily temperatures, response to the new weather package had its highs and lows. But the business section had readers in a bullish mood.
``It's a 100 percent improvement,'' said Joseph O. Wellington of Virginia Beach, a retiree.
Wellington and others praised content, the separation of sections (less battling over who-reads-what over breakfast) and, most of all, the more legible stock quotations.
``Nice to be able to read it without a magnifying glass,'' was a frequently heard comment.
Plus, Ledger readers were delighted to have stock listings again in their daily papers - ``the greatest thing since Lipton iced tea,'' said one.
Many callers had specific suggestions: run more financial-planning stories, beef up the AMEX listings, restore the price-earning ratio of stocks, etc. All suggestions were passed along to the business editors.
The new full-color weather report was a hit with two out of three callers. Its fans singled out the added data, the color graphics and the Navy Base listing.
``The new weather map is really cool . . . it's baaaad,'' enthused one young reader.
As for the folks who didn't like it, some were unhappy that it was moved off Page A4 to the back of the Metro section. (On Sundays, you'll find it on the back of the second A section.)
Some couldn't find the weather at all. We didn't make it any easier the first day by directing readers to Page A4 from the index.
Other callers admitted they couldn't figure out the charts and graphs. ``It's just a big old mess,'' grumbled one woman. ``It's hard to read the print, when it's on top of dark green.''
This and scores of other comments went to art director Jeff Glick, who designed the package. On Thursday, he was busy ``tweaking'' it.
Among the changes: Lighter colors on the regional map, so the type is easier to read; a text block with Today's Forecast, for readers who can't cope with graphs, and a line with the barometric pressure.
Glick is also looking into adding weather fronts and beefing up the Eastern Shore tides.
When we invited readers to comment on the changes, we got an earful indeed - and not just about the business and the weather. Typical comments:
Thanks for giving the editorials a more conservative bent.
The editorials are too one-sided now.
You have too many ads in the A section (hey, I wrote about that last week).
Bring back ``Hagar the Horrible'' and ``Apt. 3-G.''
It's great having a second Flavor section.
Stop messing around with the paper and give us time to get used to the changes.
NOT FUNNY. Of all the comics in this paper, ``Family Circus'' is among the most wholesome. But on Thursday it drew angry cries of ``blasphemy'' and ``offensive.''
The panel showed a child holding a doll over a toilet bowl and saying, ``I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son, and into the hole you goes.''
Connie Law of Portsmouth and more than a half-dozen other readers were not amused. ``Certainly Christians have a sense of humor, but this is not humor, it's disgusting,'' said the mother of four. ``I wish this hadn't been in the paper and I wish my kids hadn't seen it.''
Maria Carmicini, managing editor of King Features, which distributes the comic, said cartoonist Keane himself had second thoughts about the panel and made another available to newspapers.
Speaking for herself, she said, ``Mr. Keane is so reverential and respectful of religion that I think the people who read him on a regular basis will know there was no disrespect intended.''
Apparently they didn't.
It wasn't the only time this week that readers were offended at a religious spoof. Several readers objected to an editorial cartoon Wednesday caricaturing the pope, while others objected to comments about Catholicism in the comic strip ``Doonesbury.''
How do you mix faith and humor? Obviously, with a great deal of care and sensitivity.
by CNB