By David Stevens: CNJ Editor Our newspaper’s black-and-white comics (Page 3C today) have a new look. After months of thinking about it, asking readers’ opinions and drawing our own conclusions, and finally, negotiating prices with syndicates, we’ve added five new comics and eliminated three. We made space for the new features by moving the daily […]
Public forum hinges on participation
April 9, 2005
By David Stevens: CNJ editor The forum proposed to introduce Clovis schools’ superintendent candidates to the public remains in doubt. We’ll decide whether or not to host the event, along with radio station KTQM, on Monday. It has been tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday at Clovis Community College’s Town Hall. So far, only […]
Looking back at 2004’s best silliness
December 29, 2004
By Ned Cantwell Looking back at the old year and forward to the new one…. New Mexico puts the finishing touches on 2004, still one of only two states allowing cockfighting. Its sensible new rules to protect convenience store workers are under appeal. And its laws favor strip mall payday loan bandits who screw the […]
Lots of good people doing good deeds
December 18, 2004
by David Stevens, Editor We have good news — a lot of nice people are running around in the world, based on recent requests for readers to tell us about random acts of kindness they’ve witnessed. Last Sunday, staff writer Ryan Lengerich put together a collection of stories detailing nice things people do for one […]
Our commitment to our heritage and to our readers
November 23, 2004
Freedom Newspapers Each year Freedom Communications Inc., owner of the Clovis News Journal, celebrates Founder’s Day, the birthday of Raymond Cyrus Hoiles (1878-1970). “R.C.,” as he was known, founded the media company in 1935 with the purchase of the then-Santa Ana Register, and his heirs still control it. R.C. Hoiles had a passionate commitment to […]
Polls: Stevens should mind his tone
September 23, 2004
David Stevens, Editor Recent polls on our newspaper’s Web site have annoyed some readers, delighted others and sparked a lot of community discussion on the issues. The first poll that attracted multiple telephone calls to my desk ran from Sept. 5 to Sept. 12 and asked: “How do you feel about the pay provided top-level […]
Columnist makes, receives comments
July 7, 2004
By Ned Cantwell I receive a lot of feedback from readers. Hardly a year goes by that a reader won’t mention something I’ve written. Here are samples, most of which are actually true. Here is a fictitious conversation with a reader, based on some things that have really happened: We noticed that in a recent […]
Signing opinions improves their quality
February 6, 2004
David Stevens Two readers contacted the Clovis News Journal this week to suggest a new feature. Both men recommended we borrow an idea from the Las Cruces newspaper, which allows readers to offer anonymous commentary on just about any subject. The “Sound Off” feature is not unique to the Las Cruces paper. Several papers in […]
CNJ looking for comic-conscious readers
January 16, 2004
David Stevens Does Beetle Bailey bug you? Is Hagar horrible? Should the Wizard of Id turn himself into Zack Hill or some other more contemporary comic strip? Comics can be among the most popular features in a newspaper. They can also grow stale with time. We’re thinking about making changes to our daily comics in […]
Medical drugs: Many complaints, few answers
November 21, 2003
Thomas Sowell Reader responses to the discussion of government-controlled medical care in this column raised questions that need answering. The most frequently raised question was why American pharmaceutical drugs sell for less in other countries. Some readers considered this proof that the sellers of these drugs were making excessive profits. They argued that, since the […]
Answers to complaints sometimes difficult
August 24, 2003
Two Clovis News Journal readers complained last week about items published in the police blotter. They felt the information provided was too specific. Our blotter is published three to five times per week, depending on the availability of space and staff. Items typically describe incidents that area law enforcement officers consider criminal, but our blotter […]
Some mistakes harder to fix than others
August 17, 2003
By David Stevens Sometimes we make mistakes. We made at least two in Friday’s paper. We told readers the Clovis Police Department had scheduled a public hearing to discuss grant applications. We told readers the meeting would take place at 9 a.m. in the city hall’s assembly room. But we forgot to tell readers what […]
Readers comment on movie, and a star
July 6, 2003
By David Stevens The newspaper receives a lot of anonymous letters. Usually, I read them and throw them away. We almost never publish unsigned letters. We even have a rule against publishing them. So what happens when an anonymous writer provides information that’s essential to our readers? I break the rule, of course. This letter, […]
