Andrew Trench notes from the revolution

Readers call the shots – an experiment

Over the last two weeks I've conducted a bit of an experiment in directly involving readers in decision-making in the newspaper.
First, some background. For the last couple of years we've run a feature called My Kinda Town on page 2 of the newspaper. It is a Q&A format in which local people are asked a bunch of questions about their lives and the town they live in.
Reader research we did last year showed it to be the second most read feature spot in the paper, but before Christmas I began to receive letters from readers complaining about it, saying it was boring and that we should do away with it.
I had been keen to ditch the feature for some time but hesitated due to its popularity, according to our reader research.
Instead, I decided to throw the decision open to readers. I wrote a piece in my regular editor's spot in the paper asking people what they thought about it. You can read the detail about what happened below in my follow-up column, but, in a nutshell, I was swamped with responses. About 60 readers wrote to me directly and over 1200 voted in our online poll on the future of My Kinda Town.
So, My Kinda Town is finished. The readers have spoken and it will end.
I found this process really interesting. It was fascinating to see how much our readers cared about something in the paper - and also how much they valued being involved in the decision about this feature's future. Almost every letter I received specifically thanked me for allowing them to be involved in making the call on My Kinda Town.
I think that's a good lesson for us as editors. It's easy to forget that our most important stakeholders are our readers. The web and the interaction that instant modern communication allows makes it far easier to involve them directly in the product to which they are so loyal. I think I'll be doing more of this.

Here is my follow-up column:

Last week I asked readers to share their thoughts with me about the future of the My Kinda Town feature which we run on page two of the paper every day. To say I was overwhelmed with comments would be an understatement. The response was by far the greatest I have ever had to any request for feedback.
At last count about 60 readers wrote to me personally. We hosted an opinion poll on our website where over 1200 people voted. The dominant sentiment was a big thumbs down for the My Kinda Town feature with 79 percent of our online readers voting against it continuing.
The correspondence with me directly was a bit more textured with sentiment split down the line.
But what really stood out in the comments I received was that our readers enjoy seeing local faces in this space.
Many of those who asked for My Kinda Town to end made this point strongly: the problem, it seems, was not so much the concept but the content. You want to be inspired, informed and entertained by this feature.
So, our readers have spoken and we will listen. From Monday My Kinda Town is finished, kaput, klaar!
We’ll be replacing it with a new feature which I hope will meet your needs and standards.
The idea won’t win any awards for originality but it’s a tested concept used successfully by many newspapers. The new feature will be called “15 minutes with....” and will be a daily interview with news-makers, opinion-shapers, or simply ordinary people who are in the news. It will be provocative, interesting and entertaining.
This feature will involve the entire editorial team from sports, to features to the newsroom. We will use our staff and correspondents in Port Alfred, Grahamstown and Transkei to produce a wide range of interesting subjects.
The content will remain proudly Eastern Cape. It will be done properly and we will be proud of it.
The interviews will not be based on a fixed format of questions. The questions will be different every day.
We learned a lesson with My Kinda Town. This feature  became a drudge for us to deliver every day. We forgot that what mattered was the reader and did not give My Kinda Town the attention it deserved.
I’m sorry for that. We’ll ensure that our new feature hits the spot.
Thanks again for helping  improve the Dispatch.