The Huron Expositor, 1978-05-18, Page 7E.
R, .MAY 18 t 1978 7A
k sks
where Expositor.. Asks goes,
Wheredpon she tells me what a
popular column it is. „
'The only thing I can't figure out
is that if it's such a popular
column why do I have „such
trouble trying to do it?
If you would, like to help the
Save the Reporter Fund pldase
give the an answer vvhen I call you
for Expositor Asks, preferably
no comment and 'preferably with
your name to go with it. AlSo, if
you have any suggestions ,on the
type orquestions you'd prefer to
see asked in the paper, please let
me know. I could use'some ,help, .e
Pottery
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Select Group:
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Sport & Coda)
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Thursday .,.May ::.113-tot4aturday,. Ma
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`Nimoinesommemi.
•
• . •
THE HURON EXP
sitor
ruinri 1
nn Tier or Wig -good name, that
appreciated.
Writing for ydur local paper is'
'very satiSfyitig. If you follow a few
ground rules you Can Sec' your
work -in type just aS-yon have
psented -it., Remember your
paper is 'for your news and the
more• yien participate the more.
yob can enjoy the'newspaper as
well as' your community.
_wohld),3e_news-and ‘,41-1-1-rneans
'should be included in the 'report
for the newspaper. •
When, Writing up :your news
for the paper please'. print all
names. They're ,familiar to yon
but probably' not to the typesetter
or proofreader..
A slight error may cause some -
hatd feelings among friends and
that kind • of headache' no one
'heeds '-whether they are in the
newspaper trade or nbt.
If you have complaints please
call the editor and talk things' •
over.' Your hard work is_
Frank Drea and his stand or 'a
11'•trder.crackdown on prison
Most of the people phoned didn't
know about his' stand .and sonic
didn't knov, Frank Dida was,
A question that caused me a lot
of frustration in tryht to get
answers was iw,hether citizens
'would like .to 'see members of
their Imial council on television
answering questions. For some
reason a' lot of pcetife thought
they'd better not • comMenriiif Mat
one. -
Nor'did a l6t of p9Ople want to
comment on a question when the
first .. speculation of federal
election came about.e They didn't
want to answer 'ff'questimfbn
• they'd vote -for if a federal
'election was held. Whether they
were worried about whAt their •.
neighbours would think, or about,
their MP's I don't know. kit- it
. took • "a long time to • get the
answers. • •f • • • 4X
One of the most heartening
response's I've had was in answer
to the question oh the reduced.
sales tax. It only took me about a
hour to do that one. A flew record.;
Ever'-wondered how a certain
person's name. gets chosen to be
called?' I do it in random order
looking, through both local phone .
books., But ',it's a 'special kind ,of
random 'order. based'on what I've
learned my. previous--calls. ,'••
- My, prejudice about Ja ,goner- .
ation gap . may be showing but
generally I try to •call Younger
,people.-Not that I have anything.
against older people: mind you,
but they • seem to • be less
' -responsive when, it comes to
answering., Expositor Asks
questions. - •
'.New you're wondering how I,
know just whic 'h- ones; areold and
which .ones are young' just ,.by
looking at a name in the .phone-
book. 'That's :exactly- how I' do
know; by looking at a person's ,
•• -first name.
• For instance if , your name is
Ruttert-you• Lati be sure l'll-eah1
you because that name Stalseems
to be in pretty common use today.
Another 'thing i have' noticed, is
'• that it' Robertjso.'t•-at-home, Inc
' usually has a young wife who is-
willing - to talk. Other young
•
It is always- wtth delight that'.
-editors• of-weeklies-look the
readers for informatiomof goings
on in the community.
Many 'people voluntarily do
write ups of events land ,meetings
to have run in the paper and your
weekly paper is grateful to them.
But many call the 'Paper,
disappointed when the news item'
submitted'is not printed exactly
as originally written.
-
Here are a few tips to
remember when writing copy'for
this paper:
• •
When you 'report your meeting
for the -paper try to bear in mind
• •
the new-S-bffice *Concern thedings
whore a -h,,‘rn n--a prayer are-
sung. The problem that arises
here is that people who attended
the meeting already know' the
hymn title and the-prayer recited.
Those who 'did not go, are not
interested, in those details--a
newspaper can't print stories that
are like minutes of a meeting.
Therefore' that detail is likely to
be-cut out of the meeting report.
What is important Is that
maybe your group donated some
money tb 'a Worthy cause, Now
that is important to the corn-
munity, and te She ge_neral
Editor's ote: It all s e out
a year ago with . a ' deceptively
simple stiggestion from the
Editor. This.; paper needs a new
column, we said; One Oat lets
readers say, what they think on
issues of the day, A column that
would solicit opinions from
reader; thrhughout ' the
Expositor's coverage area. That's
'what, we %ranted,
We called it Expositor Asks and
we persuaded reporter Johlf,
Miner. then just returning for his
second summer with • the
Expositor, to thke 'on the job of
calling people - and writing the
colt" UM from -their -reaetions.
zursday • . afternoons . were
hc'"avy for Sohn. He chimped up
the stairs to the reporter'S'nest in
the attic' and dialed away.. Before
that he'd survey' the whole staff.
looking for a good question. ' -•
He learned the finer points of.
Expositor Asks • ;question
phrasing.
','You can't ask something that
can he D)swered • 'no',. just rno'''
he told t •, YbecaU"se your cailr'll
say th' t and hang up on you,"An
• excellc t hard , hews reporter,
John dis overed an Expositor
Asks p`honecall had to be handled
a lot differenti• from one to a locil- 'k._
reporter to do Expo-Sitar Asks was
p011eRanney who took over in
,October. She's doing the column
so well that it now runs under her .
byline and if she keeps up' the
good work we might even add her
picture.
After hearing from Debbie. the
same sorts of moans, groans and
occasional hysterical laughter
that we got front the otlier two
reporters, we asked her for the
inside story on txpositor Asks: It
runs below, in celebration of the'
column's tint. birthday.
• •
Frustrations
• 'by Debbie Ramie). ,
Ever wondered what like to
cfo a column like, Expositor Asks?
,Well, you're about to get an
earful about the trials and tribula-
tions and ultiTate frustrations
that go into putting the column'
out. '
Take for example,the People
who give you an answer to the
week's Expositor 'Asks question
and then ask you. if their answer is
going to. be printed. When they
find out it is, they don't want their
answer to go in the paper. ,
Then there was the week that a
woman said she disapproved yon'.
the column. that she didn't Want
to be. quoted and she didn't want
her • nattitItSed iii tlnc' pallor.
Or now about the. person hist
week who wanted 'know if At-
was a gag. Ltried in my sincerest
voice to convince her it wasn't.
Guess I wasn't sincere, enough.
She hung
It , is • with trepidation that ,
approach the telephone every
week to do thls• column never
knowing what kind of response I
am , going to get. My fading
optimism - is gone' completely
When three hours and about 20
calls later I only--Nhave three
.answers and the minimum is...
seven for a good colunin, '
'Getting the--answers fast seems
to 'depend a lot on
,
the of
questions .asked. I try not to ask
anything too bard.''nothing too
paitiedd and stick' locally
oriented questions if I can, If the '
questions does have anything to'
Eugene, Albert and Harold.
Naturally this theory of mine,
doesn't always work out' 'but it .
does ab ..out perelnt of the
tine, My editor was a little upset
about my "writing off" some of
the older population but then she
doesn't do the column.
My other observations are that
older men are more talkatir)t than
older , women (at least :Where
Eipositor Asks is concerned)•
that farmers will talk more about
issues than town people "and
young farm wives' will talk more
than their town cau.nterparts.
Perhaps Ern geheralizing but this
seems to be the way Expositor'
Asks works out for me..
Frustrating as this column is, at
times it:s had its funny moments
as well. Like the time I phoned up
a man who gave aavery intelligent
answer to the question but who
was convinced I was his daughter
trying to play a joke on him, He
kept asking me if I was -bringing
home the meat for supper. I still
wonder what happened when his
daughter did come home.' ,
Or a rece,nt week when • some-
body picked up the phone at the
other end of the line and shouted
,''salmon sandwiches!' into my
ear. f was stunned for the
moment .and . then I said,
"What?"
--SW-Ake& WhO -Waseailing, I
told her it was Expositor Ags she
explained she thought' it Wa, her_
daughter calling to play a' trick on
her.
CKNX radio in Wingham, a .
contest where they phone at noon
and 'you're supposed to tell them
what you'rehaving, for lunch. 'She.
and her daughter. had agreed that
they would answer the, phone that
way. About noon that day she had
a call-and thinking it might be-the
radio station she had yelled
thought she'd. surprise her: Voltime 3, can write to, . the
Unfortunately she surprised me Marketing Services Divisions.
instead,. I was glad she' did though National Museums of Canada,
becauSe:it helped me get through Ottawa,. Ontario, KIA 0M8 and
one of the• more frustrating days enclose 31.50 for a Single,issue of
of doing 'Expositor Asks. $3.00 for a year's subscription.
THANKS FOR'THE MEMORIES — Former Expositor ad manager Daver R'pbb,
right was hOndured at a staff party recently before he left for his new job with, the
Hiliburton County Echo. His wife Kathy and daughter Julie are at left. Dave is now
commuting to Seaforth on weekends and the family will be moving to Haliburton
when their'house here is sold. Former Expositor news editor Len Pizzay is editor of
the Haliburton paper. (Expositor Photo)
Clip and save
that :readers want to read an
objective report of what happened
whether it was at the last Ladies
Aid meeting or at the big fire.
There's no place for opinion, in a
news • story. Avoid using "we,
our., and 1" unless the 'news is in
the form of a letter to the editor or
an editorial comment,
Many writenps that borne into •
reader. ,The readers know ' What
groups you support and 'in turn
support you'for you'r efforts.,
Every group hears the minutes
of .the last meeting and dutifully
passes the resolution to adopt
them as read. That is important
but' it's not, ,news. •
Now if the presidept stands up
and says -the minutes are slander
polit 'clan . , ' • •'.'';
gfor your weekly. paper .h.was hard s gging but Jain .
persevered and came tip with a
gjiod-colutoo every-06e: The add-
funny response sent . him down-
stairs to report to rho rest of us.'
The odd,receiver slanimed down
in 'his ear failed to make him give
Up.
But, it's fair-to say, the rigours
of doing Expositor Asks made
'Joint's new job as edit& of the
• 1.3 WO Gazette look like a piece of
Cake and he dashed out of here in
• a hurry at the end of last summer.
Next person in charge of.
Expositor Asks was Rboa
Hamilton, now editor of the Blyth
Standard. Rhea's eolumits' Were a
marvel. 'She's got the gift of the
gab-and-oftenbad n ico-ch ats with
people she'd.call, not necessarily
on that week's Exposifor Asks
topic. .
John, training her a bit before
he h a tided over the col u mn shook.
his head-in-Wonder at how easily.
people talked over Expositor Asks
with • her,' "Maybe people talk •
easier to a woman," he mused.
We took-that to heart and next
Anyone who's curious about
EgmendVille'g early 'pottery
industry, might be • interested "in
the recent Material History
Bulletin, published by the
National Museum of Man in
Ottawa. "
The spring .issue of the bulletin
has a detailed article by David
Newlands, curator at the Royal
Ontario Museum, on' sprig
moulds which were excavated on
the sites,of Huron County's two
.eatt h en w a re-potterle44--
Mr Newlands, who spoke on
the Egmondville pottery here
recently._ has spent some years
iesearehing the local Boehler-
Weber pbttery as well as the
David Burns. Pottery , in.
Holriiesville, Ontario.
The sprig moulds which were
unearthed in Egmondville, were
small hand-heId forms for making
decoratiVe reliefs or
"spriggings" on 'the outside of
the pottery.
The use .'of spriggings on
"salmon, sandwiches." It turned - Ontario pottery, both stoneware
out to be her
son-in-law: y and, earthenware. 'dates back to
So^•-at...ahout-.,,Lo'clock in the the early 1850's.
a.fternocin she thought it,was her 'Anyone interested in ordering
datightei phoning- her- and She-----flw-Nlaterial 1.-list-oTy
n 'Expositor Classified will
There .was the question about . Names I have a tendency to and beg that she find something pay yo ividends.,Have you tried
Correctional . Services Minister stay away from - are Edwin, else to fill, in that little . space one? Dial -0240. ' '' • 4,
do-. with , • federal' politics the names seem to be Larry- Frank On 4116.. bad days of doing
answers are hard to 'come:by, , • Ronald and Dennis. . • - Expositor Mks -1 go to my editor