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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, July 13, 2003

AFTER DEADLINE

Let us know what you want to know

By Anne Harpham

A long-time reader of The Advertiser calls me whenever we fail to put a brief weather forecast on the front page of our morning editions. She looks for it there, rather than in the weather report on Page A4.

Recently, we took the temperature forecast out of our masthead at the top of the front page because of other changes. Readers called to say they liked seeing the forecast on the front page, so it was put at the top of our Page 1 "Inside" column.

Since we changed the format, there have been a couple of occasions when editors forgot to put

the temperature on the front page. It happened again last Tuesday. The diligent reader called, and I'm glad she keeps us on our toes. Even though the weather usually doesn't change dramatically in Hawai'i, it's clear that some readers follow the weather reports closely.

This reader and her reaction to a change we made serves as a reminder to the newsroom that the how and why of producing a daily paper can be puzzling to some of our readers.

We'd like to demystify that process as much as we can.

So today this column, which usually is reserved for a discussion of our policies and procedures, invites readers to ask us anything you'd like to know about the daily process of writing, editing, photographing, designing and producing The Advertiser.

It's a way for us to hear what you'd like to know about.

For example, a young reader called recently and left a thoughtful question on my voicemail about the use of color. Why, she wondered, didn't we use more color in the paper? She suggested it would make the paper more attractive to young readers like her.

The full answer is best saved for a longer column, but the bottom line is that our printing press is old, and there are technical limits to how much color we can run, and where. But when our new press facility in Kapolei comes on line next year, The Advertiser will be filled with color.

This is your opportunity. If there's something you've wondered about, please drop me a note by letter or e-mail.

Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative. You can write her at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com, at P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802, or call her at 525-8033 with questions about news coverage or corrections.