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Linda Williams, an N&O assistant managing editor, says there are some subtle reasons behind minorities' unwillingness to participate in a newspaper feature like the back-to-school story. The self-selection for that story, she said, presumably was done not by the students but by their mothers, who are the readers of the paper. In the black community, she said, mothers would be less likely to encourage their daughters to participate. "There's a concern about the exposure of bodies of young black women, because of things going on in popular culture," said Williams, who is African-American. "For them to do it, there has to be a lot of trust."

And trust is a commodity in short supply between newspapers and minorities, she said. That's in large part a function of how they're portrayed in mainstream media -- too often as criminals or athletes, not enough as ordinary people. Think Michael Vick, in last month's gallery of blacks on the front page.

Minorities don't engage with the paper because they don't see themselves represented enough in its pages, at least positively. So they're less likely to be seen in the paper. Not coincidentally, minority readership of the paper is low -- 20 percent of N&O readers, compared with 33 percent of the Raleigh-Durham population. (The N&O's news staff is 22 percent minority.)

All those are reasons why The N&O needs to go to extra lengths to make sure minorities are represented. And why an unfortunate mistake like last week's is damaging.

Adrienne Martin, the editor of the fashion piece, says she recognizes that: "I think it's a step forward that people engaged in the paper say something about it and are concerned about diversity. It just bothers me that people think we're not interested in that, because that's not true."

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