Video of Ratcliff's father was a mistake

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

Some viewers criticized our video interview of Michael Ratcliff's father on the day his son was being indicted. Unfortunately, I think they were right. As print journalists, we're new to the video world, and we made a misstep here. Our ...

It's about the journalism

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

I don't have the words to capture the spirit of the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Diversity Leadership Institute. Instead, I'll turn to a past speech by editor Gregory Favre.  I was honored to attend the fifth session this week at the ...

What do you think of Victoria's airport?

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

I flew out of Victoria Regional Airport to reach a conference I'm attending in Washington, D.C. Despite an acquaintance's words of caution about flights being canceled in Victoria, the first leg of the round-trip flight went off like clockwork. A ...

Reader-submitted articles allow community to reach out

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

We received an e-mail Friday that brightened my day: "I just wanted to thank you for your "Reader Submitted Articles" Section.  I was able to post the information about my book, and have been able to reach some people that ...

We're in beta, as Google would say

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

We're a bit overwhelmed by how much traffic our new site is generating. We're on a pace to far surpass the biggest month in online Advocate history. There's always a downside to success, of course.  Some of our longtime users became ...

A place all pet lovers should visit

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

My 10-year-old son, Paul, and I attended an open house today for the Dorothy H. O'Connor Pet Adoption Center. I like to get out of the office whenever I can to see what we're covering in the newspaper. As an ...

When is it OK to use anonymous sources?

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

At last week's ethics board meeting, we revisted our policy on the use of anonymous sources in local copy. We started by reviewing the policies of other newspapers, as summarized by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. We adopted the policy expressed by ...

Here's looking back at you, Toni Anne. Thanks for the feedback.

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

After our ethics board meeting Tuesday, I shared the comments of blogger Toni Anne. Several board members agreed she expressed well the spirit of our new site. We don't want to create strict rules. We salute readers like Toni Anne ...

How should we moderate our online forums and blogs?

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

We're thrilled by how you've responded to the changes on our Web site. Our primary goal was to make it easier to engage you in the site. Thank you for how you've responded. As we launch on this exciting experiment, ...

An exciting week in print and online

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

Here's an advance copy of my Sunday column for blog readers: --------------------------------------------------------- Calling all amateur photographers, you now have a place to display your best work.   On Page A2 daily and 24/7 at VictoriaAdvocate.com, we have created “Seen on ...

Fulfilling our watchdog role

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

A reader yesterday asked about a story we published last month. I apologize for not immediately recognizing the story from the reader's description. I've pasted it below. (I would prefer to link to it, but I'll spare you the roadblock ...

Reader raises concerns about coverage of former principal

By ChrisCobler in Your Advocate: an editor's blog

I hope to regularly share reader correspondence on this blog. If one reader raises a question, chances are good others feel the same way. Here's an e-mail we received Sunday about Saturday's coverage of Michael Maples' arrest. My response follows. ...