From Readers: Complaints, Kudos and Suggestions for 2013 and Beyond

One thing I’ve found out about many Times readers is that they are not short on opinions - and not hesitant to share them.

In my column in last week’s Sunday Review, I wrote about the business challenges facing The Times - the increasing role of revenue from digital subscriptions, the continued problems caused by the decline of print advertising - and the importance of the year ahead.

The column produced passionate and wide-ranging response from readers that fell into a number of different categories.

Here’s a sense of it:

1. Readers feel strongly that The Times should not cut back on environmental reporting. I wrote two weeks ago about Times editors’ plans to dismantle its environment pod of reporters and editor dedicated to coverage of the environment. Editors emphasized to me that they still plan to have nearly as many staff members devoted to the topic, that coverage won’t suffer, but that the structure will be different. As I noted in my post, that sounds good in theory but may turn out to be a hard promise to keep.

2. Many readers want The Times to keep publishing a print edition forever. And they are fearful that it won’t. Sally Chrisman of Princeton, N.J., echoed Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “How do I love thee Let me count the ways The New York Times is present in my life.” Among the ways: “The pre-dawn smack of the paper hitting my sidewalk … the main section open beneath my cereal … the sections I finish or reread in late afternoon … the articles I clip for my students and colleagues …”

3. Some readers want to help The Times survive. Some readers went so far as to say that they would be willing to help out with extra contr! ibutions beyond their subscriptions. I had one phone call from a man who wanted to write a check then and there: $50 as an indication of his loyalty - above and beyond his subscription.

Jack Ratliff, a Santa Fe, N.M., reader who called the print Times “the touchstone for political discussions among friends,” said that he and his wife “would happily include The Times, along with NPR and PBS, as part of our annual giving.”

4. Many have suggestions for improvement. They focused on coverage or features that they think would boost readership and circulation; several mentioned more searching investigative coverage of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration.

Some want to see a broader spectrum of political opinion on the Op-Ed page.

“I would just ask that the conservative voice be given more inches or columnists,” writes Hank Humphrey of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. “Even a smidgen more would be appreciated.”

Paul Rubinstein of Manhattan agreed, exending his criticism to story placement on the news pages, and he wrote: “The Wall Street Journal, while admittedly far more conservative than The Times, has a more straightforward approach, both to opinions and reporting. “

5. Print subscribers want to know: If I’m so important, why can’t I get my paper on time Many readers told me of their frustration and troubles with timing or placement of their delivered papers, or of not being able to find The Times at their newsstands, both in the metropolitan region and elsewhere. The public editor’s office does not deal with customer service or circulation problems; my assistant and I forward such complaints to the customer service department in circulation.

We’ll give the final words here to the alpha and omega of those who responded.

David deBeer wrote about all the reasons that The Times is not relevant enough to him to cause him to subscribe - everything from his dissatisfaction with international reporti! ng to the! policies of the opinion pages. “Instead, I log onto the Internet and listen to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez’s ‘Democracy Now’ for the critical reporting that is missing in The Times. Then I occasionally skim The Times at Starbucks to see what was left out, and remind me why I don’t subscribe.”

And on the other end of the spectrum, Roberta Jordan spoke of her longtime bond with The Times: “The N.Y. Times has been my companion since high school in the ’70s in the Berkshires … there for me on a 17-year stint in St. Pete, Fla. … at graduate school in San Francisco and halfway back from Florida to New England when I moved to Asheville, N.C. Even here on top of our Blue Ridge mountain, I listen for the distinct thump late on Saturday nights, when Sunday arrives early and The N.Y. Times hits the deck. No matter where I am geographically, spiritually, educationally, intellectually or emotionally, I have found connection and satisfaction through The N.Y. Times.”