Readers question letters policies.

Do factual errors in letters to the editor affect a newspaper's credibility?

They certainly bother some readers, judging from two roundtables sponsored this spring by The Gazette, an Eastern Iowa newspaper (66,000 daily, 80,000 Sunday) that publishes two editions, one in Cedar Rapids and the other in Iowa City. Factual errors in letters came up in both sessions.

These roundtables are part of a larger, nationwide effort by the Associated Press Managing Editors to examine and improve newspaper credibility.

The Gazette's topic, "Voices Outside the Mainstream," was prompted by a Sunday package published earlier this year about an Eastern Iowa member of the Ku Klux Klan who allowed a reporter access to that organization.

Invited to the roundtable were people who had written letters critical of the package and a few who had contacted us to praise it. We also sought a range of community members in terms of age, race, and occupation. In both cities, about 20 people were invited; 15 attended the Iowa City session and 18 the one in Cedar Rapids. We offered supper, then sat around a huge table.

The moderator was Ken Starck, former director of the journalism program at the University of Iowa (and still a professor there), who is contracted as The Gazette ombudsman. Eight staff attended, but staffers were asked to listen, to respond only if called upon.

Yours truly was the only one so asked, when, at both sessions, participants objected to factual errors in letters and asked if The Gazette fact-checked its letters. We do fact-check, I responded, and we do even more of it since we expanded our department from three to four staff members a year ago.

But sometimes the letters flow is overwhelming, and it is impossible to check everything. Also, content of letters and their veracity often involve a matter of perception.

But at both sessions, participants were advised that we try to keep access to the four columns on the right-hand side of the opinion page as open as possible, no matter what we have said in the editorial column on the left two columns.

And so, back to news, the bulk of the night's discussion, and appropriately so. As Starck observed in a subsequent opinion page column (The Gazette's only coverage of the events): "In general, comments were cordial, even laudatory. The reasons for this are not clear: Presence of staff members? Skewed representation on the roundtable?"

Still, as Starck observed, there was no lack of criticism or suggestions. The newspaper should do more digging for stories behind the stories. Work more minorities in as sources, on the news and opinion pages. Give young people a chance to write for the paper about what interests them. Get out into neighborhoods, and not just when something bad happens.

At each session, a couple of participants bemoaned the fact that many of their neighbors do not read the paper and are unable to discuss their community and its issues.

A perennial critic of The Gazette, responding to Starck's column, mentioned in an e-mail to Gazette staff members that it would have been better had there been a concise agenda with a specific purpose and commitment for improving Gazette credibility. His words sting.

The roundtables do signify The Gazette's commitment to credibility, Starck points out. Still, at times conversation drifted, and maybe too many words were laudatory. Maybe we shouldn't feed the participants next time.

And there should be a next time. We need to hear our communities talk about what we do.

NCEW member Kurt Rogahn is assistant opinion page editor at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Roundtables

Fifty newspapers are participating in the National Credibility Roundtable in association with the Associated Press Managing Editors.

Each paper chooses a topic of local interest. n Wisconsin for instance, The Racine Journal-Times based its roundtable on coverage of a fatal accident. As newspapers complete their portion of the project, they are posting reports at the APME website, www.apme.com/credibility

Representatives will share their findings in the APME's annual conference, October 10-13 in Milwaukee.