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Sept. 2, 2005

Dear AP Sounding Board members,

In a quick survey of AP's coverage of U.S. base closing decisions last week, State News Director Sarah Nordgren and Washington Chief of Bureau Sandy Johnson posed questions about speed and quality of spot separates, the national roundup, advisories and localization tips, and photos and graphics.

Six responses came in, the fewest of any of Sounding Board survey so far. The replies were generally positive, showing that AP was able to meet most big picture needs. AP advisories and localization tips got a mixed response, indicating there's room to refine these tools. Photo coverage seemed solid. Graphics weren't heavily used.

Full replies follow, in order of receipt:

1. Was AP state coverage timely and relevant? Did you use it online? In print copy?

Lance Johnson, managing editor, The Day, New London, Conn.:

We were in the thick of it in Connecticut, with a major sub base (saved in 7-1 vote) targeted in our region. We didn't depend on the state AP, since our staff had far better sources. We supplied AP with copy, photos. Along the way, the state AP had a few good stories, but they duplicated what we were developing.

George Stanley, managing editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Although we subscribe to all the major national wire services, AP was our primary source for the national story on BRAC because its coverage was timely, thorough and complete.

Deanna Sands, managing editor, Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald:

We didn't use state AP coverage. We did our own stories ourselves each day.

Tom Eblen, managing editor, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader:

Coverage of Fort Campbell, Fort Knox and elsewhere met our needs and was used both in print and online.

Rick Hall, managing editor, The Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City:

From our perspective AP was both timely and relevant. Used it in print and online.

Bill Betterton, news editor, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson:

The state coverage was helpful and provided us with information that was unavailable to us.

2. Were the advisories and localization tips provided by AP useful in helping anchor your paper's coverage?

Lance Johnson: We were almost always out in front of the state AP, butAP advisories may have been helpful to many papers.

George Stanley: One of our Washington Bureau reporters provided all of our local coverage, with some help from our staff in Milwaukee. We did not use AP or any other wire for coverage of what was happening in our state, but we didn't need or plan to.

Deanna Sands: Didn't really see any state-centered advisories. So, no.

Tom Eblen: Yes

Rick Hall: Yes on both. Although, Utah has several military installations, so we had plenty of local stuff. But we always like localization tips.

Bill Betterton: In one case, we used a localized story for the lead.

3. If you used the national story by Liz Sidoti, were the stories timely and informative? If you used a supplemental version, why did you choose it over AP?

Lance Johnson: We used national copy from Liz Sidoti, which was very serviceable, but added otherwires to tell the national story. We felt the NYT's did a better job on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, for instance.

Deanna Sands: We used national AP stories to flesh out our local leads.

Tom Eblen: We use Knight Ridder Washington Bureau when all else is equal.

Rick Hall: Liz's stories were solid, easy to read, direct to the point. That's what we were looking for, in this instance, in the national coverage. We tended to be a little more anecdotal/feature-ish in our local coverage.

Bill Betterton: We tended to localized as many of the stories as possible, but we did use Liz's story inside.

4. Were the AP graphics informative and complementary to the stories? If you used another service, why?

Lance Johnson: Most of the graphics and breakouts that wepublished were local, and we developed those.

George Stanley: Yes, we used one of AP graphics.

Tom Eblen: Didn't use any graphics.

Rick Hall: Did not use AP graphics on this. No particular reason why. But, in general, I find AP graphics a little confusing and not immediately easy to read/understand.

Bill Betterton: We found the graphics to be too sketchy and needed enhancements.

5. Did you use photos from the BRAC hearings, or photos from the bases at risk? If you used another service, why?

Lance Johnson: Yes, we depended on AP for the photo coverage in Washington, particularly of our vote. Very nice job capturing the key moments. We were in Washington to cover the story in print, but our photo staff shot the story at home. State AP didn't do anything photographically that would have added to our report.

George Stanley: We focused mostly on local people being affected, shot by our own photo staff.

Deanna Sands: We used one photo, from Rapid City.

Rick Hall: Photos were as good as could be expected from a meeting. We used them because a former Utah congressman is on the commission.

Bill Betterton: I believe we used on photo. Most photos had little meaning for our readers.

Thanks for participating.
Dave

Dave Minthorn, manager, AP News Administration, coordinates the questions and answers. Newspaper editors wishing to suggest a topic can send an e-mail to Minthorn at dminthorn@ap.org.

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