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Responding Professionally Our readers say things. It’s important to know what to say back.

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Responding ProfessionallyOur readers say things. It’s important to know what to say back.

Readers give us feedbackIt’s important to always frame

feedback as readers caring about what we do.

So how to best respond when people come to you and point out a flaw in the paper or to talk about an article they disagree with?

“I noticed you misspelled…”People will often point out copy

errors they notice.

“I noticed you misspelled…”This is NOT a helpful response:

◦“We spent a lot of time working on the paper and we check the pages over.”

◦“I bet you have copy errors in your work, too sometimes.”

◦“We know.”

“I noticed you misspelled…”This IS a helpful response:

◦“Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”

◦“I will mention it during our issue post-critique and let the section editor know.”

◦(if the error is significant, like a name or grade error): “We will include it in our next issue corrections, and make sure it is corrected online.”

“The article should have included…”Readers will see content gaps

that we don’t see based on their experience with a topic.

“This article should have included…”This is NOT a helpful response:

◦“Well, we can’t rewrite it, can we?”◦“That’s not how the writer saw it.”◦“We’d already quoted all the people

who could say that in previous stories.”

◦“I disagree… I like it the way it is.”

“This article should have included…”What IS a helpful response:

◦“Thank you for bringing that to me.”◦“I’d like to share your feedback with

the writer; perhaps that is a perspective they can add to the story online.”

◦“I’d encourage you to write a Letter to the Editor for us to publish in the next issue.”

“I disagree with what you published about…”It’s not uncommon for readers to

have their own opinions, and they may contradict what we’ve written.

“I disagree with what you published about…”What is NOT a helpful response:

◦“Well, that’s your opinion.”◦“I disagree with you.”◦“We have sources; what are your

sources?”◦“You are right; the writer was

wrong.”

“I disagree with what you published about…”What IS helpful:

◦“Thank you for reading the piece.”◦“The Rubicon is designed to

encourage discussion in the community, and I’m glad you’re talking about it.”

◦“I’ll bring your feedback to the section editor / EIC.”

◦“I encourage you to write a Letter to the Editor or a guest Opinion piece.”

An article gets posted on the Opinion BoardWe are fortunate to have this

space where students engage. However, it is rarely fun when we end up there, because people don’t post what they LIKE in the issue.

An article gets posted on the Opinion BoardWhat is NOT helpful:

◦Engaging in conversations around the Opinion Board about the piece.

◦Voicing that you didn’t agree with writer either.

◦Posting your own opinion or a response to the original post.

An article gets posted on the Opinion BoardWhat IS helpful:

◦Taking time to read the post.◦Bringing what you hear from others

to class to relay that perspective to the EIC.

◦Framing (in your own mind) that you can disagree with a writer and still support their freedom of speech.

◦Share with others that the EIC will post a statement from The Rubicon.

“Why didn’t you cover…?”Often, readers are looking for

stories that we either opted not to cover or didn’t know about.

“Why didn’t you cover…?”What is NOT helpful:

◦“We work really hard.”◦“We can’t cover everything.”◦“It’s not that important to the larger

student body.”◦“It isn’t timely anymore.”

“Why didn’t you cover…?”

What IS helpful:◦“Thanks for letting me know about

it.”◦“Can I bring this idea to the staff?”◦“Would you be willing to share a

quote and/or photos [related to the story/event], so we can include your voice if we choose to pursue the story?”

“Nobody reads The Rubicon.”Honestly, I’m not sure why

people say this. Anyone who looks up in the hallway on a day the paper drops can see lots of people reading The Rubicon. We have hundreds of subscribers and we mail the paper all over the nation. But…

“Nobody reads The Rubicon.”What is NOT helpful:

◦Saying what I just wrote◦Saying nothing

“Nobody reads The Rubicon.”What IS helpful:

◦“What could we write about that you would want to read?

◦“Maybe a print edition isn’t your thing: have you looked at our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube?”

“The Rubicon is a cult”Personally, I’ve never heard this,

but I know you have.

“The Rubicon is a cult”What is NOT helpful:

◦“No we aren’t.”◦“Yeah… kind of.”◦“Don’t hate on my RubiFamily!”◦Saying nothing

“The Rubicon is a cult.”What IS helpful:

◦“One of The Rubicon’s goals is to include a quote, image, or story about every student in the community during the year.”

◦AND… “The Rubicon polls the student body nearly every month to get their opinions.”

◦AND… “Can you think of any other student group or athletic team that engages people outside their group like that? I can’t.”

“I really liked…”Not all the feedback we get is

negative. On the contrary, we feel compelled to respond to the negative, but we hear a lot of positive.

“I really liked…”What is NOT helpful:

◦“That’s why we win all those awards.”

“I really liked…”“That’s really nice to hear.”“My favorite part of writing it /

creating it, etc…”“I appreciate it.”“Is there anything else you can

think of that you’d like to see us cover?”

“Thanks for reading The Rubicon.”