To the man who called in

The other day, a concerned reader called to tell me he thought a story we ran was biased and "belonged on the Opinion page." He thought a piece we did on the president's State of the Union address was neither objective nor complete. He had every right to call me and complain, and I commend him for doing so. \nI started to explain that the story was written late -- around 11 p.m. -- and with our midnight deadline approaching, those late stories tend to get quick and cursory edits before zipping it to "backshop" where it is placed on the page. My editorial mumbo-jumbo didn't matter to him, just as it doesn't and shouldn't matter to readers.\nAt the time, I was in a rush, between classes and dealing with two other personnel issues, and I did something I regret still: I told him I had better things to do than to listen to his gripes. \nMy retort, of course, was way off-base, and if I had his name and phone number, I'd call and apologize personally. Nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is more important than reader feedback, and I should have used my time on the phone to listen more closely and learn from this reader's complaints. \nI make mistakes sometimes, and this instance was a big one. We are in business because people read the paper. Your comments are more important than any petty personnel issues I might have, any personal issues I might be facing and -- yes -- any class I might have to worry about.\nSo besides an apology, this is a call-out to readers to call your editors and tell them what you think about the paper. Call the Sports editors (Matt Mattucci and Eamonn Brennan) and tell them what you want to see in the paper. Call the Nation & World editor (Trevor Brown) and tell him what national stories should be localized and how you think we should do that. And call me and tell me if you think a story we ran was subjective and incomplete. \nWe don't know exactly what you want unless you tell us. Write us (letters@indiana.edu), call us (855-0760) or send us some snail mail (940 E. Seventh St., Bloomington, IN 47405). \nAnd to the man who called in, thank you.