Catholic school coverage debated

So you want to be a newspaper editor?

Last week I got a call from a guy who wanted to tell me how tired he was of seeing the story about Catholic school closings plastered all over the front page.

It wasn’t that he thought it wasn’t important, or that it affected a lot of people in the region. He was just tired of seeing it.

“Isn’t there any other news out there?” he implored me. “What about the violence in Chester and all this stuff about Romney. Couldn’t that go on the front page?"

The more I talked to him, the more I got the impression this guy simply was anti-Catholic. He didn’t really give a damn what happens to the archdiocesan schools, and he certainly didn’t want it splashed all over the front page of his daily newspaper.

Then there was the voice-mail I had this morning.

A woman called last night to complain about my column from yesterday and all the 'negative' news we’ve been publishing about Catholic schools.

Honest.

“I’m a proud Prendie grad and I’m real tired of your newspaper's negativity,” she said in a booming voice. “And my kids are tired of seeing it, too.”

Sorry to disappoint her. If reporting on the possible closing of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast is considered being “negative,” she will simply have to learn to deal with it. This story isn't going away anytime soon.

But I’m once again flabbergasted at how the newspaper and website’s coverage is interpreted by readers.

This woman obviously is convinced that we have it in for Prendie with our “negative” coverage.

I actually think we’ve been their biggest booster.

The Monday column specifically pointed out that not all change is good as I lamented the sad decline that has led us to this point – the closings of dozens of archdiocesan schools.

Some days I should just stay in bed.