Tuesday morning I was reminded anew about why I might be the luckiest editor in the country.
The occasion was the start of voting on Election Day. Almost as soon as it began in Cuyahoga County, we started seeing buzz about voters going home without casting ballots because of a scanning issue. We did not know how big of a problem it was.
We quickly got a reporter working on it, but I knew we could get an immediate read on the scope with a text message to a group of the kindest, smartest and most thoughtful people I know. I’m talking about the 1,150 subscribers to texts I send out each day about what we’re working on in our newsroom.
Within minutes of sending a text about what we were hearing, I had responses from across the region, including from people who were working in the polls at that very minute. We were able to quickly get the word out about the issue and how the Elections Board was fixing it. Within a couple of hours, all was well in the polling places.
This is not something we could have done 20 years ago. Back then, we would have been forced to wait from explanations from elections officials or sent reporters to polling places. That would have taken time.
The people who subscribe to the texts, by immediately responding to our call out, helped get the word to countless voters. They helped us provide a public service. (The Elections Board announced in a Twitter message that it had an issue, but we doubt many voters saw that.)
When we created the “From the Editor” texts, our hope was to launch a conversation with readers, to build a community to discuss our work and the thinking behind it. Each morning, I send a text about a story we have in the works or questions we hope to answer. Fairly often, I ask for feedback on an issue we might explore.
The responses never fail to inform us. We often turn the responses into stories. Recently, reporter Sean McDonnell wanted specific examples of how inflation was hitting people in the region, and the text subscribers provided us with plenty. (We don’t use names in these stories. I’ve promised anonymity to anyone who texts me.)
The text exchanges have proven to be our most successful engagement effort with readers, but the big added benefit that we did not foresee was they would become such a valuable reporting tool. We basically have a focus group of 1,150 people, to provide immediate feedback. We’ve never had anything like that before.
As for the benefit to the subscribers of the texts, they tell me that the texts make them feel connected to our newsroom. And they get a heads up on stories before we publish them, making them feel like insiders. They say they like having a direct line to the editor of a huge Ohio news platform. Most important, possibly, is they get to have a say in how we report the news, by guiding us in the reporting. They regularly warn me of land mines or suggest angles we had not considered.
I have to say, too, that this group is so darn nice. If I fail on occasion to send a text, they’ll ask me if I’m okay. The tone of their messages is usually warm and friendly. Even the small group that texts almost every day to accuse me of slanting the news does so with a neighborly tone.
I never know what to expect from this group. On Thursday, I sent a text about the challenge of planning political coverage when so many people have stopped paying attention, partly because of burnout from the viciousness of today’s politics. I didn’t think I’d hear much, but for the rest of the day, I received enlightening ideas from readers who have been troubled by voter apathy and what is happening with their government. The ideas are so rich that I’m pulling them together into a story for next week about sparking people to re-engage.
That’s not an issue with the texters, obviously. They’re fully engaged, and I’m grateful beyond measure that they engage with me. It’s why I say I’m so lucky.
Want to join the conversation? It’s free. Simply enter your phone number at joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn
Thanks for reading.
