The Bellingham Herald
Editorial Forum
Questions for the editor
1155 N. State St.
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-715-2261
Bellingham Herald Executive Editor Julie Shirley will answer your questions about the newspaper and its policies.
Most Recently Answered Questions
Questions 1 - 10 of 10 (Page 1 of 1)
Submitted by Karen Lawson from Bellingham WA
Q: Greetings,
Please tell me what is your preferred method for receiving business announcements and news releases?
What about news releases for community events sponsored by our firm?
Thank you,
Karen
A: Please send your announcements by email to newsroom@bellinghamherald.com. And if you have events, please enter them in the online calendar. We pull events for print from the online calendar.
Answered 07/21/09 10:48:51 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Kelly Booker from Bellingham, WA
Q: Editor,
Why does the Herald make it so hard to become a paying subscriber? We had been longtime subscribers but took a break after our daughter was home - less guilt about unread newspapers that way... We went to resubscribe, and found absolutely no deals @ thebellinghamherald.com. We searched online for coupons - nothing. Then the next day we get a coupon book from the Herald - and there's a coupon (buy two months, third month free - "D'oh Deal" - but no way to do the payment online and get the coupon... So then I had to call the Herald and wait on hold for 5 minutes to give my credit card information. It seems like it should be a LOT easier to become a paying subscriber?
D'oh indeed! :-)
Kelly Booker
Silver Beach
A: We're going to take a look at what we can do to make it easier online to subscribe. Thanks for your note.
Answered 07/10/09 09:16:05 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Richard Mayer from Lynden, WA
Q: Why have you changed the nature of The Herald Crossword Puzzles? They used to be user-friendly and often challenging enough. Now they are bizarre and often cryptic. Something has been lost since the change to puzzles now published. Can we go back to what was clearly better puzzles?
A: The author of the old puzzles is no longer doing puzzles. We switched to the L.A. Times puzzle, which is progressively harder during the week, but still much less challenging than the N.Y. Times puzzle. Here's a link to a column I wrote about the puzzle: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/291/story/878081.html
Answered 06/26/09 09:17:28 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Elsie Hansen from Lynden Wa.
Q: This ? is not about the Herald. It is about the highway dept.WHY is there a roundabout on a WA.Highway. the 1 between Bellingham And Lynden.Someone Please reply
A: Here's a link to one of the stories we've done about the roundabout: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/915025.html. You can also type "roundabout" into the search bar in the navigation of any page and you'll get a list of stories about the roundabouts.
Answered 06/17/09 13:39:13 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Kirsten Wilson from Bellingham
Q: I would like to know why you have not attempted to manage the on-line comments with some kind of policy, for example a policy from KOMO's online comment section:
KOMO News is happy to provide a forum for commenting and discussion. Please respect and abide by the house rules:
Keep it clean, keep it civil, keep it truthful, stay on topic, be responsible, share your knowledge, and please suggest removal of comments that violate these standards
It really would make a much better environment for people who truely want to discuss current events that affect us all especially here in this community. At the moment the comment section is a pit of innuendo and just plain nastiness. Too bad, it could be a wonderful community forum.
A: We remove libelous comments when alerted to them. And we allow readers to report abuse in commenting and if several people report abuse on the same comment, it is hidden from view. The internet isn't the newspaper. It's more immediate, more of a conversation. And it's messy and often mean, like life. I believe having us edit all comments would stifle conversation, not make it more civil. Story comments are intended for the community, not for editors to select the thoughts we deem worthy of expression.
Answered 05/01/09 09:32:51 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by George Hartnell from Southside Bellingham
Q: Missing from the local paper is the article found in yesterday’s Seattle Times about the death of a tribal leader who lived in Bellingham for many years, Rochelle Rasmussen-Sandeen.
Instead, in my local newspaper, I see an AP article from Los Angeles about the death of Marilyn Chambers, porn star.
What is the Herald’s excuse for this oversight?
Regards, UncleG.
A: Thanks for the tip. I'll see if we can find that information. When somebody dies elsewhere, we don't always hear about it.
Answered 04/14/09 10:25:08 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Amy from Bellingham
Q: There is no link to this section from the front page. Clicking on "reader forums" does not bring it up. The only way I could find to it was to follow the link posted in the original story. So how will people even know it exists?
A: There's a link under Community in the main navigation. Roll over to Q&A and click. An index page shows all the Q&As we have.
Answered 04/13/09 09:07:30 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by WORST_EVER_43 from Crawford,TX
Q: Will you be answering all the questions you get on the new blog,or will it be a team effort?
As I'm sure you're aware,you were pretty heavily criticized
for not posting very often in the "old" format.
A: This format lets me know when there is a question. If I can answer on my own, I'll do so quickly. If I need info from others to answer, it may take a day or so.
Answered 04/10/09 09:12:46 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by joann from birch bay
Q: how do I get the shoppers edge to my mailbox each week or can I go online and get it with the coupons, like salvation army 30%?
Thanks Joann
A: Please send your name and address to me at julie.shirley@bellinghamherald.com and I'll get you on the mailing list.
Answered 04/09/09 09:00:51 by Julie Shirley
Submitted by Richard Maneval from Bellingham, WA
Q: What is your expectation for how the Herald is going to better report on what is happening within the Neighborhoods, of not just Bellingham, but also throughout Whatcom County.
A: If there's a particular story going untold, please send us a note at newsroom@bellinghamherald.com. In general, we try to cover stories that have the most impact on the most people in our community. There are always more stories to tell than time to tell them. But sometimes we don't cover something because we don't know about it. So do please drop us a note.
Answered 04/09/09 08:58:39 by Julie Shirley
SITE MAP
