Readers and the Virginia Tech coverage

The News & Observer threw a lot of resources at the Virginia Tech story. One editor figured that 20-some reporters, photographers, editors, researchers and other staff contributed to the paper's reports one day last week.

This is somewhat unusual for a national story that occurred outside North Carolina. But the story was compelling here, for several reasons. Virginia Tech has a sizable contingent of students from North Carolina and alumni who live here. The Triangle is a university community with a heightened sensitivity to campus tragedy. And the Virginia Tech massacre, in a neighboring state, was the worst of its kind in American history.

The N&O rightly treated it as a local story. The paper sent a reporter and two photographers to Blacksburg, where they teamed up with news staff from sister paper The Charlotte Observer and the McClatchy Washington Bureau. Reporters back in Raleigh produced stories on campus memorial services, questions of campus safety and other local angles. The N&O added extra pages each day for the additional coverage and used its Web site, www.newsobserver.com, to update news and carry the overflow of stories and pictures that couldn't fit in the paper.

Did the readers appreciate the extra effort? Yes, if my survey of The N&O's Reader Advisory Panel is any indication. Most of the 90 or so who responded said the paper's coverage was good, although many had concerns about specific aspects.

COMMON THEMES: Readers found in the newspaper depth and detail that was not available in the carpet TV coverage. They appreciated the local angles, such as stories about students and friends here who were touched by the tragedy. They especially liked the profiles of victims that began running in print and online Thursday.

But readers also cautioned against intruding on grief, sensationalizing, playing the "blame game" against Virginia Tech officials and overdoing the coverage. Several objected to publicizing the "manifesto" and video sent to NBC News by the shooter, saying that would reward the killer's intent and inspire copycat activity.

So let's listen to the readers:

* "Without the paper, my understanding of this tragedy would be like a Texas river: 'Two miles wide but only 6 inches deep.' The N&O, as always, gets to the real substance and depth of the story." -- Chris Hearn, Knightdale.

* "Your newspaper is the permanent record of what happened, except for videos. ... It really is all I need to know about the Virginia Tech situation without any sensationalism." -- Shelley Settlemyre, Rocky Mount.

* "What I liked most about The News & Observer's coverage was the way you honored the lives of the victims by briefly sharing some specific information about them with your readers." -- Brenda Cleary, Cary.

* "The info provided to readers appeared to be fair and balanced, unlike some of the TV networks on nightly news, that tried to use 20-20 hindsight and blame Virginia Tech for what it did or did not do." -- Billy Surles, Angier.

* "The problem I foresee is the possibility that The N&O will follow the TV media with too much coverage for too long. I read the newspaper for the facts of what happened. I don't want to read about what the families and friends are feeling -- I already know that. If I were in their shoes, I would like a little privacy for my grief." -- Clark Rounds, Spring Hope.

* "Info is good, but when everyone's grief gets paraded and dragged through the mud, it's disrespectful to the victims." -- Nina Fortmeyer, Raleigh.

* "My feeling is that it is time to back off on the coverage and let everyone calm down and mourn in peace." -- Helen LeFebvre, Raleigh.