Submitted 08/19/09 15:03:30 by Brenda from Charlotte NC.

Q You've got to be kidding me that all Jeff Elder writes about is social networking??? Your paper can barely make a profit, has laid off dozens in the newsroom, and you have a reporter focused on social networking? Bring back Dr Traffic - that's news I truly can't get anywhere else. I can get the info Jeff Elder writes about for free on dozens of other sites (though he's about 6 months behind). I can't get good local news anywhere, including apparently the Observer these days! Maybe you'd have more readers if you gave us information we can't get anywhere else. Thanks.

Answered 09/07/09 22:38:01 by Rick Thames

A: On this point, you and I agree. The Observer’s strength is in providing readers information that they can’t get anywhere else. We’re not perfect on that attribute, but we do have more readers now than we’ve ever had in the Observer’s history – more than 1 million a week in print and online. How do we do that? By bringing readers unique information, yes. But also by meeting readers where they choose to be. Some keep track of the world through a printed newspaper. Others prefer a Web site. Still others use social networking. An estimated 450,000 residents in the Charlotte region are now on Facebook, alone. That statistic should explain why we asked Jeff to cover this rapidly expanding frontier. If we’re not there with them, we miss this facet of Charlotte. Jeff helps us be there. And he’s hardly “behind” on this trend. To the contrary, Jeff is a respected source on the use of social media, both locally and nationally. He also helps other readers who, unlike you, are new to this activity. As you say, social networking isn’t a uniquely Charlotte phenomenon. But Charlotteans are doing things through it that are unique to this area. Many readers want to know about them. I’m pleased to hear of your support for Dr. Traffic. We temporarily parked this feature over the summer when its current author, Steve Harrison, moved to a new beat (covering the city government of Charlotte). We hope to restore it this fall.