Editors' Corner

Cool weather tools

BILL MILLER

One of the most useful and interesting items we have at battlecreekenquirer.com is on our Weather Station page.

Besides Newschannel 3's radar image and forecast graphic there's also all the data that's generated right here on top of our building at 155 W. Van Buren St. And it's updated every 10 minutes around the clock.

But the coolest things of all — and something I don't think you'll find anywhere else — are the weather "history" charts. These show you clearly what's been happening all day long — temperature, wind chill, wind speed, and rain.

Photo galleries, video and such

JOHN GRAP

Every day during the week we post galleries to the website of photos that are published in the print and online versions + extras that we aren't able to use with the stories.

Tomorrow, in addition to the gallery for the 31st, we'll also have a gallery of photos to go along with the special WOW edition on Battle Creek nightlife. And, check out Andy Fitzpatrick's excellent video!

Speaking of videos for the past year and half we've been able to tell stories with video through the incredible talents of videographers Andy, Justin Hinkley, and Aaron Harris. Watch the videos ... they're pretty cool.

As always, let us know how we're doing. We welcome your constructive feedback.

Why can't I e-mail a copy of an obituary?

BILL MILLER

Welcome to the Editors' Corner — a new blog where we editors hope to engage you, our readers and contributors, in two-way conversations.

So let me jump in — as the Information Desk editor I also watch out for much of what's going on at battlecreekenquirer.com, and try to get fixed things that don't work.

Right now, if you go to the bottom of an obituary notice and click on "Email this story," you'll get a message: This service is temporarily unavailable as it is undergoing maintenance. Thank you for your patience.

We apologize and we're trying to fix it as quickly as we can.

I can't say when because the technical "back room" stuff for our Web site is handled at our company's headquarters in Virginia — a not uncommon situation in today's world where equipment and people are spread out far and wide, all tied together on the Web.

Please keep checking back.

Oh — and be careful out there in this nasty winter weather. Looks like it's going to stay with us a few more days.

Enquirer focuses reporting on B.C. first

ERIC J. GREENE

From time to time in this space, I will attempt to engage you, the readers, in a conversation about the journalistic practices of the Battle Creek Enquirer.

Specifically, I'll write about how the newsroom works, how we compile stories, why certain stories appear on the front page, why we sometimes misspell names and so forth.

I want to have such a conversation for two reasons: First, as a reporter at heart and editor by title, I can never know my audience well enough. Second, newspapers are grappling with a decline in relevance and trust, in part because newspapers don't always explain themselves well enough so readers understand why we do what we do.