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Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 2/13/2006 2:32:07 PM
Title: NYT introduces byline/e-mail system
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
Memo from New York Times executive editor Bill Keller

To the Staff:

We've struggled for a while with the question of how to invite more readers to communicate with our reporters without inviting tons of junk mail or spam. Creating such a system was a recommendation of the Credibility Committee in its report [PDF] in April.

Now we have an answer.

Beginning on Tuesday, readers of nytimes.com who click on a staff byline (we're only doing this with staff names, which appear underlined and in color), will, in addition to seeing other articles by that writer, be able to e-mail the reporter. That reader e-mail will be routed without disclosing the address of the reporter, thus keeping regular e-mail boxes free of additional junk mail.

It’s a nice system, with great potential benefit to all of us institutionally and personally. As the Credibility Committee put it: “Making it easier for the public to approach Times people has numerous benefits. It sends a message to the paper’s readers ­ our customers ­ that we are indeed accessible. It also opens up another avenue for reporters and editors to get ideas and tips that can lead to stories.”

But it won’t work if we don’t use it. The Credibility Committee spoke of its conviction “that explaining ourselves actively and earnestly to our various publics can only strengthen the bond between the Times and its loyal readers.” Readers appreciate thoughtful answers to legitimate questions and criticisms.

That doesn’t mean that every personal attack must be parried, every anti-Times campaign repulsed, every line-by-line analysis rebutted in kind. It simply means that readers should be heard and, whenever possible, engaged. In many cases, no reply will be called for beyond the auto-reply acknowledging that a reader's message has reached you. In other cases, a polite acknowledgement will be plenty. And in all cases, it's worth keeping in mind that what you say to readers and how you say it will be taken -- rightly or not -- as representative of The Times.

Here’s how the system will work:

1) The reader types the message into a Web page and hits "Send."
2) The reader gets an automatic reply saying the message has been
received.
3) The reporter gets a daily e-mail notification saying that reader mail has arrived.
4) The reporter clicks a link in that notice and sees the list of reader messages.
5) The reporter responds at his or her discretion directly from the message page.

Any reporter who finds this once-a-day compilation a problem can let Terry Schwadron know, and he will route e-mails to the appropriate
departmental in-box.

Bill

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