Meet Jim Abrahamson and Deborah Horvitz. They're from different ends of the political spectrum. Abrahamson, a retired Army colonel who lives in Fearrington Village outside Chapel Hill, often finds The News & Observer too negative in its coverage of the Iraq War and the Bush administration, among other things. Horvitz, who lives in Durham, criticizes the paper for burying the news from Iraq and being too easy on Bush.

That's what they don't have in common. What they do share is an appetite for reading the newspaper and strong opinions about how The N&O does its job. They communicate those opinions to us as members of the Community Panel, an advisory group of readers who meet with editors on a monthly basis to critique the paper and discuss its work.

While they find plenty to fault, Abrahamson and Horvitz give the paper good marks for at least listening. "I think just the fact that there is a panel and that you listen so intently and carry that back to the staff is very important," Horvitz said after a meeting earlier this month. "I think it says a lot for you to try to have some sampling of how your readers feel about the paper," said Abrahamson, who still harbors strong feelings about coverage but professes himself "thrilled" with his experience on the panel.

The Community Panel is one of several ways that The N&O tries to have an ear open to readers and communicate with them outside the news pages. Another is the Front-Page Visitor program, which invites readers to attend the daily decision-making meeting of editors. There also is a "virtual" advisory group, called the Reader Advisory Panel, consisting of readers who agree to be a sounding board about the newspaper's work and occasionally help with news coverage.

The purpose of today's column is to enlist you in these varied efforts. The N&O gets a lot of reader input via letters to the editor, e-mail to reporters and editors and other over-the-transom communication. But most of that tends to be one-way, and we find that it's particularly valuable to have direct exchange and communication between newsfolk and readers.

"The guests have been a good source of ideas and feedback, and help us understand some of the questions and reactions people have in our community to the news and how we cover it," said Executive Editor Melanie Sill. "We also enjoy meeting them."

Here's how each of the groups works. I hope you'll sign up for one or more:

Front-Page Visitors: Up to two readers a week attend the daily meetings at 4:30 p.m. where about a dozen editors decide the stories and layout for the next day's front page, plus take a peek ahead at stories in the works for coming days. The meetings are informal and fast-paced, and the visitors are encouraged to offer their opinions. Benefit to us: a small, completely unrepresentative focus group on the next day's paper. Benefit to you: an inside look at news judgment and questions such as fairness and accuracy. Meetings last a half-hour and you're asked to commit for one week (Monday-Friday). If you're interested, contact Becky Beach at 829-8949 or e-mail bbeach@newsobserver.com

Community Panel: This group of 12 readers serves a year's term, rotating every six months. It meets over breakfast every third Wednesday of the month from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Members receive a year's free subscription and are asked to read papers between meetings and provide a short critique at the next month's session. The meetings also include presentations and discussion on different aspects of the newspaper's operations. Recent sessions, for example, included interchanges with the editorial board and a presentation by the team of reporters and photographers who went to the Gulf Coast to cover Hurricane Katrina. We take notes on the critiques and discussion and distribute a summary internally to the staff.

The paper tries to empanel a group that is diverse in age, ethnicity, occupation and, yes, political affiliation. To apply for the Community Panel, contact Becky Beach at the address above or me at the address at the end of this column.

Reader Advisory Panel: This is an online community of readers whom I have solicited over the past year to be available to advise us on coverage and react to stories. For example, panel members helped us find teachers who work two jobs, and, during Hurricane Rita, identified people in the path of the storm who have ties to the Triangle. I've asked for the panelists' opinions on coverage of the U.S. Open and of Hurricane Katrina, and we've done surveys on what readers think of the use of confidential sources in news stories.

Communication is entirely by e-mail, and we promise not to use your e-mail address for any purpose other than that stated. You won't end up in a marketing database. To sign up for that panel, contact me at the e-mail address below or go online to www.newsobserver.com, keyword: vaden.

If you talk to Deborah Horvitz or Jim Abrahamson about their time on the Community Panel, as I did recently, you won't find that they've become cheerleaders for The News & Observer, although both do find nice things to say about the paper in their monthly critiques. Their criticism is just as sharp-edged and direct as it was previously. Just more informed. And that's how we'd like all our readers to be.

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