The Idaho Way opinion newsletter turns 1: We want to hear what our readers think
This week marks the one-year anniversary of The Idaho Way newsletter, a weekly compilation of opinion pieces from the previous week.
It’s been a lot of fun putting it together, and I love the direct communication that it provides me with our readers.
The Idaho Way is meant to serve a specific audience: readers who want to read more than just the news of the past week and more of the analysis of those events, why they’re important and how they affect you.
I’ve tried to avoid incremental coverage while at the same time trying to stay ahead of the news.
Sometimes that’s great, and sometimes I end up too far ahead of the story. For example, I wrote very early last year about Rep. Barbara Ehardt’s proposed legislation affecting transgender student-athletes. Unfortunately, that story didn’t get a lot of attention until later, when it became a heated issue in the Legislature. I wrote about voting by mail last year a couple of weeks before the issue really blew up nationally. I also wrote a column before the primary election in Idaho that said you should request an absentee ballot, because I had a feeling the pandemic was going to take its toll on voting that year. Boy, that turned out to be true.
Similarly, last week, I wrote about school vouchers. That column didn’t get a lot of attention, and I think that’s the way the advocates want it, for fear of unleashing a public outcry.
Readers of The Idaho Way, though, were among the first to read about it — and will continue to read about it, because the issue won’t be going away anytime soon.
One of my favorite columns this year — and one of my most popular columns — was comparing the sacrifices we’re asked to make during the pandemic with the sacrifices Americans made during World War II. I also love shedding light on the struggles people are facing: Idahoans not able to get unemployment benefits, renters who get their hours cut back, and seniors trying to schedule appointments for COVID-19 vaccines.
Throughout the newsletter, as well, I post guest opinions, our regular column from Bob Kustra and, of course, letters to the editor.
Over the past year, I’ve experimented with some other features, but it’s been tough to gauge how much value they added for readers. I’ve always been curious about the features that you most appreciate and value as well as what you’re least interested in.
Coincidentally, last month I enrolled in an online course on newsletter strategies from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin.
One of the big takeaways for me from the first module of the course was advice for conducting surveys. This includes doing regular quick-hit surveys of one or two questions on specific topics, which I’m super excited about starting. It also includes a bigger survey with more questions about who you are, why you read the newsletter, what you like about the newsletter, what you don’t, what you’d like to see added.
This larger survey will help me gauge what I should do more of and what I should get rid of. The one-year anniversary is a perfect time to launch it.
With that in mind, I’d like to ask you to fill out the survey and let me know your thoughts. It should take you only a few minutes.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to take the survey and, as always, thank you for reading our editorials and my columns, and for reading The Idaho Way.
If you don’t already subscribe to the newsletter, you can sign up here. The best part is that it’s free.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhat is this column all about?
This column shares the personal opinions of Idaho Statesman opinion editor Scott McIntosh on current issues in the Treasure Valley, in Idaho and nationally. It represents one person’s opinion and is intended to spur a conversation and solicit others’ opinions. It is intended to be part of an ongoing civil discussion with the ultimate goal of providing solutions to community problems and making this a better place to live, work and play.
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Subscribe to The Idaho Way weekly email newsletter, a collection of editorials, columns, guest opinions and letters to the editor from the Opinion section of the Idaho Statesman each week. You can sign up for The Idaho Way here.
Want your say?
Readers are encouraged to express their thoughts by submitting a letter to the editor. Click on “Submit a letter or opinion” at idahostatesman.com/opinion.