Gives Us Your Feedback

The Saline Reporter and The Milan News Leader will be holding a series of focus groups with people identified as key communicators in both communities. The news staff will sit down with them to talk about what they want to see in the newspapers, what they enjoy, what they think is missing, how they can participate more in sharing community news and our online efforts, including video and this blog.

While we've sent out invites to people who are top of mind to us, as they share information with us on a regular basis for publication purposes, we want to hear from everybody. Below is the survey we've compiled to gather feedback. Please take the time to fill this out and e-mail it to editor@salinereporter.com or editor@milannews.com. Simply cut the text below and paste it in the body of an e-mail with your reply. If the survey is too long, feel free to answer select questions and respond as a comment on this blog. We look forward to hearing from you.


Q: Were you born and raised in the Saline-Milan area? Y N Age: Gender: M F

Q: Do you currently live in the Saline-Milan area? Y N
If yes, which municipality (city or township) and how long? ______________________

Q: Do you subscribe to the newspaper? Y N

Q: If you get your local news from The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader Web site, do you feel it’s comprehensive? If not, what would you like to see online?

Q: Are you aware The Saline Reporter and The Milan News-Leader produce videos of local events and news for Web broadcast? Y N

Q: Do you watch videos on the newspaper’s Web site? Y N

Q: Would you now knowing they’re available? Y N

Q: Are you aware The Saline Reporter and The Milan News-Leader maintain a staff blog in which the reporters and editor write about local topics of interest and readers can post comments? Y N

Q: Are you interested in joining an online conversation with the community and newspaper through a blog? Y N

Q: What newspaper(s) do you read on a regular basis?

Q: What three Web sites do you visit on a regular basis?

Q: Your favorite part of The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader is... rank in order from “1” (most favorite) to least favorite: ___Letters to the editor ___Sports ___Features on local residents ___Business stories ___Photographs ___Press releases from the local community ___Press releases from Washtenaw County ___ Other Voices/Guest Columns ___School-related stories ___City-related news ___Police news ___Obituaries ___Weddings, anniversaries and engagement announcements ___Street Talk ___Classifieds

Q: Are you satisfied with the news coverage published in The Saline Reporter or Milan News-Leader?
Totally Usually Seldom Never
Why?

Q: What do you think is missing?

Q: Are you satisfied with the sports coverage? Totally Usually Seldom Never

Q: What do you think is missing?

Q: Are you satisfied with the Community, Living or Noteworthy section (features, calendar, weddings, engagements, anniversaries, births, obituaries)? Totally Usually Seldom Never
Why?

Q: Would you rather see photographs from readers published or quality photographs from a professional photographer?

Q: Do you look at the Neighbors photo page? Y N

Q: The newspaper runs special information sections/pages on a periodic basis. Rank the ones that interest you, from “1” (most interesting) on down:
___Hometown Heroes ___Election Profiles ___Neighbors (photo pages)
___The Ones to Watch (young professionals) ___Food/recipes ___Travel

Q: If you could receive more information in the newspaper about a specific subject or issue, what would that topic be? ___Features about neighbors ___City Council news ___Township board votes ___Local businesses ___Government corruption ___Government worker salaries ___Home decor ___Gardening ___Cooking/recipes ___Interesting hobbies ___Good deeds ___Amazing feats ___Hometown heroes ___Candidates for office ___School happenings ___Kid features ___Other ___All

Q: How important is quality of writing to you?

Q: Would you welcome stories written by readers?

Q: Are you aware you can easily submit information and photographs to the newspaper for publication via e-mail? Y N

Q: How important are maps, graphics, or information pulled from the story and presented in bulleted form?
Very Important Important Somewhat important Not important

Q: How do you determine which story to read first?
Rank the reasons, from “1” (most interesting) on down:
___Size of the headline ___Local significance ___Whether you are familiar with the topic or person profiled
___Police related ___Money/tax related ___Placement in the paper

Q: The newspapers publish special supplements, such as Home and Garden, Women in Business, Bridal Planner, Health and Fitness, Fall Sports, Saline Summerfest and Celtic Festival, inserted in the newspaper. Do you read them? Y N Why?

Q: The newspapers publish a community directory in the spring and a school directory in late summer. Do you read them? Y N
If so, how long do you keep them in your household? One week A few weeks 3 to 6 months 6 months to a year

Q: Do you like to read news from surrounding communities in your newspaper?
Y N

Q: Rank the areas you prefer to read news about in order of importance, with “1” (most important) on down:
___City of Saline ___City of Milan ___Surrounding townships (such as York, Pittsfield, Lyndon, Lodi) ___Washtenaw County ___Ann Arbor ___Outlying cities (such as Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester, Ypsilanti) ___Wayne County ___Monroe County ___Lansing ___State ___National

Q: When reading a feature story, how important is it to you that the person being profiled is from your community?
Very Important Important Somewhat important Not important

Q: If you could add one thing to The Saline Reporter and Milan News-Leader newspapers, what would it be?

Additional feedback: