Cabin Window: All about you

Some newspapers have mottos, slogans, that explain who they are or what they do. Some of the mottos are catchy; some are pithy. All mean something to the folks who create those pages.

You've heard some of them.

"The newspaper of record." That's The New York Times.

Some you probably haven't.

"Covering Dixie like the dew." That used to be the motto and the truth for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Not so much these days.

"The only newspaper that gives a damn about Yerington." That's the slogan for the Mason Valley News in Nevada. We like the notion, if not the word choice.

These phrases tell us something important about the newspapers. We don't have a slogan we publish on our front page. We haven't felt a need to put words on the page to remind us of what we know, but if we were to assess a motto to our work, it would be "It's all about You."

Because what we do is all about our readers. We don't publish a newspaper for ourselves. We don't include stories and photographs and various listings because those things are important to us. We publish all those things every day because we know they are important to our readers.

Like most media outlets, we strive to serve as many people as we can. In some ways, that means that our daily editions are more like restaurant buffets many items that should include something for everyone than specialty restaurants a magazine, Women's Inc., for example.

But no matter what range of subjects we cover each day, there is a common thread: We are the newspaper of and for Conway and Faulkner County.

Yes, we include the major stories from around the state, nation and world, but we best serve our readers by keeping them up to speed on what's going on down the street, not as much about what's happening a thousand miles away.

This focus on local people and events works well for lots of folks. Indeed, we often hear that we have too much content from elsewhere on our pages. Sometimes, though, we disappoint readers who want more information on stories from afar. We heard from such a reader Friday morning, upset that we didn't go into more depth on our coverage of Michael Jackson's death.

Balance, we told the caller, is what we try to strike. That's easier said than done. We'll keep trying.

We can't promise that we'll get the balance right day in and day out, but what we can promise is that over the course of any given day, week, month or year, there isn't another media outlet that will cover Conway and Faulkner County nearly as thoroughly as we have, do and will. Period.

For most of our 130 years, that has meant content on newsprint. Starting a few years ago, that has included an online presence. In coming days, we will be adding two new products to our local information arsenal.

More on those tomorrow.