Headlines, e-newsletters and new NCBR staffers

It’s all in the head.

As you can see on the opposite page, some subscribers to our Business Report Daily e-newsletter took umbrage at a recent headline. Not the story, which was a factual report of data collected for the Colorado Division of Housing, but the headline, which they felt cast the fair city of Greeley in a less-than-flattering light.

So maybe this is a good time to review what the Northern Colorado Business Report is and what it is not, what we do and what we try not to do.

First and foremost, we are a newspaper. In this era of bloggers, citizen journalists and “sponsored content,” the notion may seem quaint, even outdated, but we tend to do things old school, like check facts, have more than one person read copy, and try to draw a bright line between news and opinion, stories and advertising. And write headlines that catch readers’ interest.

Most of the time we are successful, I think. But here’s a recurring question: Should NCBR be “the voice of Northern Colorado business”? If so, what should we be doing differently? Feel free to share your opinions, as our faithful letter writers did about the Greeley headline, on our website, www.ncbr.com, in the comments section under this column, or send an e-mail to editor@ncbr.com.

Speaking of e-mail, we have recently begun sending our Business Report Daily Early Edition. You may not have noticed, due to a couple of technical glitches, but each weekday, you can receive a roundup of business news from around Colorado and sometimes beyond. This is in addition to our ever-popular afternoon Business Report Daily, which contains breaking Northern Colorado news as well as controversial headlines.

You can sign up for the Business Report Daily Early Edition on our website and start looking for the newest news in your inbox by 8 a.m. – or whenever the computer gremlins feel like delivering it.

NCBR‘s editorial staff has been remarkably stable over the past 15 years. Even when reporters like Steve Porter or Tom Hacker leave the paper after a good long run, they can come back for another stint, bringing with them their wealth of contacts and in-depth knowledge of Northern Colorado.

We are happy to report that we are adding another reporter with a remarkable wealth of knowledge and experience to fill the vacancy left by Kristen Tatti, who covered banking and technology for NCBR for an amazing six years. Sharon Dunn, who has been covering business for the Greeley Tribune for those same six years, will come on board Sept. 7.

We welcome her – and her enormous Rolodex of Weld County contacts – and look forward to more dialog with our loyal readers.

Kate Hawthorne is the editor of the Northern Colorado Business Report.

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