Question: The narrow physical format of the paper is no problem, rather it is the Spokesman’s priority of articles that is the problem.

The front page looks more like a magazine than a newspaper. The lead article is not news, but rather human interest. On Feb. 14 it was about principals wanting drivers to stay off cell phones and Feb. 13 about Native Americans objecting to a mine.

These are interesting to some but are not current news. They could have been written weeks or even months ago. Articles about Iran’s nuclear efforts were on Pages 3 and 4 and Haiti’s election and riots were on Page 4.

Our family reads the paper for news. We expect it to be immediate, accurate and thorough. If we want magazine articles, we subscribe to plenty of them. We are disappointed in “our newspaper” and a bit insulted about the dumbing down. – Steve Moss, Coeur d’Alene

Answer: I’m sorry the writer is not comfortable with our Page 1 news decisions. Filtering the day’s news events down to a four-story Page 1 mix is among the most difficult tasks editors take on every day. We have some rules and protocols that help us with those decisions.

For one thing, local news has first call for the front page. While this family may rely on the newspaper for hard national and international news, the fact is the vast majority of readers get national and international news from other sources and most of it is 24 hours old by the time it hits print. A front page dominated by day-old stories from the Middle East, Haiti or even Washington, D.C., is simply not going to be read.

On the other hand, with our sizable local news staff, we’re capable of producing a number of stories every day that give readers fresh information, context or insight into local and regional happenings. That’s our franchise and it’s why the vast majority of our readers buy the newspaper. A Page 1 story about calls to ban cell phones in school pickup zones has far more impact on local readers than a day-old story out of Haiti.

I understand that some readers believe strongly that we ought to grade the news on the basis of a sort of cosmic importance scale. On that basis, how can any local story ever compete with uranium enrichment in Iran? Believe it or not, we have those debates in the newsroom every day. And there frequently will be national or international stories that break on to Page 1. But they will be the exception.

I do disagree with the characterization that this approach, typical of local newspapers, is a “dumbing down” of the paper. There is nothing dumb about rules and legislation that will regulate citizens’ use of cell phones or about fights over mining rights that can impact a community’s economy.

Our daily news meetings, at which we debate and decide Page 1 and Northwest page content, are open to the public. Call (509) 459-5420 or send an e-mail to pattyf@spokesman.com to make an appointment to sit in on either a 10 a.m. or 4:30 p.m. meeting. – Steve Smith, editor