Striving to Excel

On Saturday, Oct. 6, a few of us were working at the Nevada Daily Mail office to continue our "sprucing up" efforts in the front office. While working in the alcove to the front office I overheard a rather loud comment from across the street. A man and his wife had been parked across the street waiting for copies of our Sunday Herald- Tribune to be placed in the newspaper rack. When the man exited his car, he waved to a friend and called out "So, are you here to pick up a Daily Disappointment, too?"

Well, needless to say, as publisher of the Nevada paper, as well as The Fort Scott Tribune, I was surprised and quite frankly my feelings were hurt. But, being a business woman I "sucked it up" and went on with my work . . . until the same man was standing right in front of the office and told another person who was buying a paper that he "didn't know why he wasted his money on this paper."

That was it. I had "sucked it up" enough. I promptly stepped outside, stuck out my hand to shake and introduced myself as the publisher of the paper. I said that I had heard his comments

and wondered what he thought we could do to improve our paper. I was serious and sincere in my request for information. Apparently, he didn't think I was because he quickly told me to "stick the paper in my ear" and then walked off without buying a paper.

The last thing I wanted to do was offend this man -- a customer of the paper. I'm sorry if I did. As we celebrate National Newspaper Week Oct. 7- 12 we are focusing on being better at everything we do -- from the stories we report on to the way we handle concerns from our customers.

So, don't be surprised if I ask you how we can improve our service. As a matter of fact on Thursday of this week we will have a customer survey that we insert into The Fort Scott Tribune. I hope that many of you will take a few minutes to complete the survey so that we can improve our services, products and customer service.

At this newspaper we have a standard that I expect all of my managers to meet. When presented with a problem I expect them to find a solution. So, when a problem is presented to me, a solution already is in hand -- or at least an idea is on the table. I hope that you will respond to our survey in the same way.

You also will have the opportunity to "be in our shoes" if you choose to participate in the "You Be The Editor" feature on www. fstribune. com. This is YOUR opportunity to decide what should and should not be published in a local newspaper by responding to three scenarios that present tough journalistic questions.

Although we are not perfect, we do try very hard to be a good local newspaper. We work with a small staff (because economics require it) and we struggle just like other small businesses to find the right people for the right job. All that said, I want you to know that we have very talented people on staff that are very dedicated to our community. When discouraging words are said about us it hurts. We try to remember that it is easy to criticize when you haven't been asked to do what we do. But, please know we are working to be what you want us to be and more importantly, what journalistic standards require.