Readership survey

In April 2021, The D.O. promoted a readership survey on social media and began embedding it in stories published on the website. The survey received 89 responses between April 12, 2021 and August 23, 2021.

Here are takeaways from the readership survey and recommendations for improvement based on readers’ suggestions. Many of the recommendations center around building trust with and developing relationships within the community.

Frequency of readership

The highest percentage (38.6%) of the 88 readers who responded to this question said they read The D.O. multiple times a week, followed by 23.9% who said they read The D.O. once a day and 18.2% who said they read The D.O. once a week. Others said they read The D.O. multiple times a month (8%), once a month (5.7%), multiple times a day (4.5%) or when there was a story of interest (1.1%).

Creating relationships with the community instead of reporting reactively

In response to a survey question of how we can improve our coverage of marginalized communities, one reader recommended creating relationships with the community so that our coverage of marginalized communities is not limited to when negative events occur. Producing nuanced and fair stories about our community requires building trust with community members, and the reporting process should not be the only time when we engage with the community. Rather than taking a reactive approach and only swooping in to report in the community when breaking news happens to a marginalized community, our reporters should reach out to, listen to and be in continual communication with student groups and organizations in the Syracuse area centered on marginalized communities. It is particularly important for us to build trust and relationships with communities of color and other marginalized communities, which news organizations, including The D.O., have historically harmed and underrepresented in their coverage.

Covering marginalized communities at SU and in the city

several readers listed Indigenous community members, LGBTQ community members and international student concerns, particularly issues Asian students face. One of these readers also said they would like to see follow-up stories about the #NotAgainSU movement. A reader said that we could improve our coverage by focusing more on how student life topics specifically affect students from marginalized communities.

Another reader said that our coverage of the city of Syracuse is sometimes lacking in its level of detail on specific locations and resources available to residents. City coverage should cater to an audience that includes Syracuse residents, in addition to members of the university community, they said, and listed the Near Westside of Syracuse as an example of an under-reported community whose businesses, people and progress we should highlight. Other topics readers said we do not cover enough include business, entrepreneurship, economy and technology and innovation.

The D.O.’s editors and reporters should seek out communities that it does not frequently report on, including communities in the city. Reporters should get to know the city they are living in and reporting on, and the paper’s coverage should extend beyond the university community. This means that, when possible, reporters should go to various communities to become familiar with them and make connections, as well as to report. Reporters should also research and learn about Syracuse’s history and the relationship between the city and university. Editors, senior staff writers and the management team should help provide reporters who are new to the community with resources to learn about complex and ongoing issues in Syracuse’s history. This includes creating a guide with historical and contemporary information on Syracuse for newer reporters, as fall 2020’s diversity report recommended. These steps will help ensure that our reporting comes from a relationship with the community and a foundation of knowledge about its historical context and challenges.

Faculty and staff issues, research and graduate students

Several readers said that we should do more reporting on faculty and staff at SU. One reader suggested we report on what faculty members’ lives are like and how faculty think SU can best serve students. Others listed faculty and academic excellence and research across departments at SU, including engineering, social sciences and journalism, as topics that we are not covering. Since SU is a research institution, we should also pursue stories about the university’s progress on research goals, infrastructural issues and policy frameworks that support or hinder research, one reader said. Another reader said that we do not cover graduate student issues sufficiently.

Though The D.O. is completely student-run, students are not the only people who read it, and they should not be the only ones reflected in our coverage. The stories we tell should also reflect and focus on the concerns, perspectives and work of faculty

READERSHIP SURVEY (CONT.)

and staff members at SU. To find story ideas relating to faculty and staff at SU, D.O. reporters should be in tune with the concerns and work of faculty and staff at the university. Also, most editors and reporters at The D.O. are undergraduate students. The D.O. should work to recruit and welcome graduate students to our newsroom, make connections with graduate student organizations and publish more stories focusing on graduate students.

Investigations on administrative accountability

Readers also said that we should pursue more investigative stories focusing on administrative accountability, including stories about the chancellor, spending, organizational structure and dynamics between the administration and students and faculty. One reader suggested we pursue stories about SU’s Board of Trustees.

As a student-run newsroom that is independent from the university, The D.O. should pursue stories to hold the administration accountable and inform other students and members of the community about processes, decisions and policies within the university’s leadership.

Accountability and culture within athletics, women’s sports

Readers said that we should pursue more stories focused on accountability within SU’s athletics programs, including Title IX issues and the culture within women’s athletics programs. A reader also said that our coverage does not focus on women’s sports enough, and readers said we should cover club sports more frequently.

Serviceable stories on campus life, other topics

We exist to serve the community and should produce stories that provide students and community members with information they need to know for their daily life. Readers said they would like to see more stories focused on daily student life, including service stories that provide information on topics such as meal plans, housing selection and transportation issues. Another reader said The D.O. should connect SU community members to resources and businesses in the city of Syracuse. Other topics that readers said we are not covering sufficiently include arts events, University Senate and student opinions.