From the editor: Why the Trump assassination attempt story wasn't in last Sunday's paper (2024)

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES

You may have noticed that last Sunday’s Journal did not contain coverage of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Some of you had a theory about why.

“On the front page and anywhere in the paper I can’t find a damn thing written about it,” one reader said in a voice mail message early Sunday morning. “Not a thing. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it makes no difference. It’s news.”

Another caller made the same point on Sunday but expressed it a bit differently: “If President Biden had ridden his bicycle half a mile to get a cone of ice cream yesterday evening it would have made front page.”

In their calls, both of these men mentioned that they are longtime subscribers, which I appreciate from the bottom of my heart and do not take for granted. Also, I appreciate their passion and also the last guy’s biting sense of humor and old-fashioned lyricism. “Cone of ice cream” was a nice touch.

But most of all, I appreciate their willingness to pick up the phone in the first place and let me have it. They each believed that we intentionally kept the story out of the paper because of political bias.

That’s good to know, and it gives me the opportunity to say that’s not true, though I can understand how it might have looked that way to loyal readers of all political persuasions.

The Trump assassination attempt was and will continues to be a hugely important story. It didn’t run in Sunday’s newspaper because when the shooting happened and the story broke, we had already gone to press.

But the story did appear almost immediately at the top of our website, and as it was updated throughout the evening, it was accompanied by other related stories, along with photographs and video footage. One of our reporters, Richard Craver, reached out to get reactions from local politicians, and that story ran online Saturday night too.

In Monday’s paper, stories about the assassination attempt and the ongoing investigation ran on the front page and throughout the A Section, along with an updated version of Craver’s story, which included reactions from citizens.

The world we live in

Our coverage of the Trump assassination attempt is a reflection of today’s 24-hour news cycle.

Back in the day, you got your news every morning by walking outside and picking up your newspaper. That’s how you got your breaking news, sports scores, weather forecasts, stock reports, everything.

Because of this, we waited until midnight to print the newspaper, and then you read about it in the morning with your cup of coffee.

We live in a different world.

Today, through the magic of the internet and smart phones, you can get your breaking news, sports, weather and financial data instantaneously and around the clock.

We take pride in putting out an interesting and informative newspaper each day, but we also acknowledge that some information, like evening game scores and news that happen at night, no longer appears in print editions the next day. While some may see this as a loss, it’s small compared to all that we can bring you on our digital platforms, including video stories, photo galleries, e-mail newsletters, podcasts and continuing updates on developing stories such as the Trump shooting last week.

If you’re a print subscriber, and God bless you if you are, the best way to get the most bang for your buck and to stay truly informed is to activate your online account, which is free with your print subscription. To do that, go to journalnow.com/users/admin.

Here’s one way to look at it: News is happening all the time, and you can get it on our website any time. In contrast, our morning newspaper is a snapshot of what was on our website when we went to press.

Anything that happened after the presses started rolling will be published on our website as soon as we can get it there. We — and you — don’t have to wait until the next press deadline, and you can get more content and more kinds of content, including video, than you would in print.

With the vast majority of our audience depending either solely on our digital products or on a combination of digital and print, press times have become less important and have allowed us to streamline print production and invest more in news gathering and storytelling.

This reality led us to recently close our Winston-Salem production facility and start printing on another press that our parent company, Lee Enterprises, owns in Virginia. This decision does not affect our ability to gather the news or get it to you quickly on our digital platforms.

We’re not the only media company changing the way we approach print, of course. This past week, the Charlotte Observer switched to publishing newspapers only on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with the Sunday paper actually being delivered on Saturday. And the Observer will be delivering only by mail.

Our commitment to you

Right now, we remain committed to bringing you a print newspaper seven days a week, and whether it be through digital or print, our focus on news gathering and storytelling is to bring you content you can’t get anywhere else, to explain why news should matter to you, and to tell the stories of important and interesting people in the Triad.

While these kinds of stories attract large digital audiences for us every day, they also play well in the newspaper and, paired with the images produced by our talented staff of photojournalists, look great, too.

That’s why we’ve redesigned the layout of the newspaper, which we launched on Tuesday. It’s less crowded, easier to read, and will be a nice accompaniment to your morning cup of coffee.

Many of our readers, by the way, enjoy their morning paper via the e-edition, an electronic replica of the print newspaper that allows you to experience the best of both worlds. You access it through our website.

As we enter election season, we’re looking for opportunities to update the e-edition with important breaking news after the newspaper goes to press. This news will already be on our digital platform, as last Saturday’s Trump news appeared on our website soon after it happened, but updating the e-edition after print deadlines gives our audience a quicker way to get their news in a traditional format. It also signals to readers that we judge the story to be important and front-page worthy.

Thanks for reading the Journal, however you read it, and as always, let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.