By Anne Harpham

Newspapers that care about their readers will do all they can to honestly assess criticism and complaints, correct what is wrong and uphold the highest standards of accuracy and fairness.

I wrote those words in February 2002 when I became reader representative. In the aftermath of the New York Times/Jayson Blair scandal, I went back to look at that column and the commitment The Advertiser had made to its readers.

We take that commitment seriously, so it is distressing to read about a recent survey by the Associated Press Managing Editors that found that many readers don't report mistakes because they don't believe editors will pay attention.

We do believe in listening to readers and following through on anything that needs attention or correcting. That is one reason we have a reader representative to field questions and complaints about news coverage. My name and phone number — 525-8033 — are published daily. You also can write me at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Readers sometimes tell me we're more interested in making a story compelling than in telling the truth. Yes, we like good stories, but journalists want to be correct and, much as it might occasionally embarrass us, we admit and fix our errors.

Many of our mistakes occur because people get rushed or fail to double-check information. Sometimes reporters or editors make assumptions or get sloppy.

Most of our errors are factual — a wrong name or date, for example. Sometimes a lack of clarity leads to inaccurate conclusions. And sometimes we don't give readers the complete story because we didn't ask enough questions.

Readers should never be reluctant to call with a question or a concern, and to correct us when we're wrong. Sometimes readers think it won't do any good, or that someone else will call. I would rather hear from a number of you than not hear from anyone. We have on occasion repeated errors because no one alerted us to them.

There will be times when editors don't agree an error has been made, or feel that a letter to the editor is a better forum for a reader's concerns. We will tell readers when that is the case and will explain why.

And I am happy to get back to any reader who wants a follow-up on a complaint.

An item from last week: On the front page Tuesday, we reported about the growing number of SARS cases in Toronto. The Associated Press and the Washington Post used different numbers in reporting on the number of people who were asked to go into 10-day home quarantine.

The Washington Post reported 1,400 were asked to go into quarantine, The Associated Press reported 2,000. We used the Post story, but included material from the AP and used the 2,000 number from AP in the opening paragraph of the story and the headline.

We should have used both numbers and made it clear that the news organizations were reporting different numbers.

Wilfredo Tungol		Jo-Ann Adams
Douglas Murata		Nelson K. Smith
Jackie Evans

Board members in April-May were:

• Wilfredo Tungol, a Honolulu-based equal opportunity lawyer.

• Jo-Ann Adams, solo practice lawyer in Honolulu focused on estate planning.

• Douglas Murata, a businessman with extensive business management experience in Honolulu.

• Nelson K. Smith, a retired Air Force officer now working in public health.

• Jackie Evans, a sales support specialist with a passion for politics.

Senior editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative.