WTG TCL

Some of you complain of typos…of course there are typos. It is a fact that, for any written medium (including blog comments) there will be misspelled words, misplaced punctuation and improper grammar used. Do we try to avoid as many mistakes as possible? Of course we do. Do we have a dedicated copy editor to catch such mistakes? With a staff of 5 full-time employees, no, that is not a practical option. As has already been stated, we each read stories and advertisements to catch the errors before we go to print but, as is bound to happen, mistakes still make it on to the printed page. Please do no think that I defend such mistakes or that I think they should be completely overlooked. What I do ask is for understanding that we are, in fact, human and not infallible in our proofreading.

I also ask that readers do not compare newspapers to media outlets such as NorthEscambia.com. It’s been mentioned already, but it bears repeating, that there is no fair comparison to be made. This website is for immediate news and information, something with which a weekly (or even daily) newspaper cannot compete. Whereas, virtually, as soon as news happens William can have it posted on this site, we have to wait until the next week’s edition to print our coverage. Also, mistakes made on websites can be corrected in mere seconds but a printed paper is permanent. If corrections are warranted, they are posted in the next week’s edition.

I, for one, sincerely applaud William and what he’s been able to do for this area. His is not an easy job, but I think he does it amazingly well. In fact, when NorthEscambia.com was still relatively new, my mother (who lives in Molino) introduced me to it by sending a link to an article about the Historical Society in Molino. Included in that article was a picture of my grandmother and her sister. I remember telling my mother then that I thought this site was a wonderful idea, and that I was thrilled to see the coverage William was offering.

I know many people are bound to complain about Joe Thomas and the work he does with The Ledger. It is not, however, fair or at all accurate to claim that Joe does not thoroughly research his stories or that he refuses to print retractions if he has made a mistake. Joe is a “news man” above all things and, as we’ve all been told many times, he’d put his mother on the front page if she did something to warrant that attention. He is unbiased and unflinching in his news coverage, traits which are coveted in a news editor.

To everyone who has been supportive of us, who has congratulated and encouraged us, I say thank you. We all work hard to deliver a quality product each week, and I know the staff at The Atmore Advance (and other papers in the county) does the same.

Huh? They don’t cover Northview High School. Or Ernest Ward Middle School. Or Molino Park. Or Cantonment. Or Walnut Hill. Or Bratt. Or Molino. Or McDavid. Or Cottage Hill. Or Barrineau Park. Or the Escambia County School Board. Or the Escambia County Commission. Or fire consolidation. Or governmental consolidation. Or taxes. Or politics Or…the list just goes on and on of the things they don’t cover in north escambia.

They cover Century, and crime in Century. That’s it. They do a pretty good job of covering Atmore, Flomaton, Jay & Brewton, I suppose. And Century. That’s their niche, as you say. But they don’t cover north escambia. That’s why we love northescambia.com so much, because north escambia is their niche.

online news — increasing readership, increasing revenue, increasing content. Up to the minute news that a modern generation wants.

The ledger and the advance reach 3,000? 5,000? people per week? What about a website like north Escambia? 20,000? 30,000 or more per day? It’s easy to see who rules! (William care to answer how many?)

Sure papers follow rules from the Alabama press association. But does it make them better just because they are members of the APA? Nope. Atmore News is member and I don’t think they won the first award. The Atmore advance and ledger did because they worked for it.