I read the comments all the time on The Cavalier Daily. It’s just about the only website on which I read the comments, and that’s only because it’s literally my job to do so. The comments vary widely in their intent and content. Some are insightful and engaging. Sadly, these are rather few and far between. Largely, the commenters are either hammering their own personal agendas or aiming for snark. On the occasion where the commenter’s personal agenda topic actually cuts across the topic of the article or column, the comment may actually end up being engaging. Too often, though, commenters are just lashing out without offering anything substantive, all of which is to say that we readers have a responsibility to try to make The Cavalier Daily a valuable resource, too. When commenting, especially on the opinion pieces, engage with the material. Often the writers will respond, and the dialogue is illuminating. On news stories, writers won’t and shouldn’t respond themselves.
George Knaysi provided both a fine column and a service last week with a preview of a national conference on sexual assault happening here at the University Monday and Tuesday the 10th and 11th of February. The conference, “Dialogue at U.Va.: Sexual Misconduct Among College Students,” is an important step in an ongoing conversation about sexual assault on college campuses and in our community. As Knaysi points out, such crimes are too often stigmatized and hidden. He does the community a terrific service by writing about such a program ahead of time. For situations where the point is to encourage dialogue and help the community, news articles after the fact are not nearly as helpful as a column beforehand. I encourage the writers and editors of The Cavalier Daily to seek out opportunities to merge the topics they are interested in writing about with coming events or programs. It would fit with the new managing board’s desire to increase synergy between sections of the newspaper. A column beforehand (and perhaps afterwards) and a news story about the event will provide readers a complete picture of what’s going on as well as, perhaps, an opportunity to participate.
Once again, the new focus on multimedia and more immediate reporting reaped real benefits last week. The building that houses Little John’s New York Deli and Michael’s Bistro caught fire on Friday afternoon, the February 7. I first learned about it from the main Cavalier Daily Twitter feed and was able to follow all of the news, from the closing of the Corner for a time to an on-camera interview with the manager of Little John’s and an audio interview with an employee. There were also several photos posted of firefighters at work. It was a wonderful job by The Cavalier Daily staff and another example of exactly what they can excel at: having several people reporting in different ways about a local story while it’s happening. I am really looking forward to this kind of reporting continuing and becoming more refined and tight knit.
In terms of multimedia opportunities, at least one was missed. It’s a great example of where more varied content could add a lot to a story. Kerry Mitchell wrote a fun and informative piece about curling that was published February 4th. It turns out there’s a local curling league. It sounds like a ton of fun and the article itself is a great read. Some video of curling to accompany the article would have been fantastic to see.
Christopher Broom is a public editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com or on twitter at @cd_publiceditor
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