We are listening to our readers and our community; tell us what you think
Good things happen when you listen.
To your gut, your heart, your parents and, especially, your community.
In our newsroom, we talk often about two imperatives: Be connected and be essential.
Listening is a key element of both.
That's why we recently had a team at the first-ever Milwaukee Intertribal Circle Spring Powwow and you will find us at Milwaukee's Juneteenth Day celebration on June 19.
If you spot us — just north of Burleigh Street, on the east side of Martin Luther King Drive — we hope you'll stop by for a chance to meet some of our journalists, share your thoughts on our coverage and even snap a selfie.
There are many other ways to engage with us as well, as we work to create an ongoing conversation with our community.
We offer regular chances to get your questions about the Packers, Bucks, Brewers, state politics and more answered through our regular 'mailbag' features.
You can vote in our weekly polls for Athlete of the Week and Student of the Week, as well as polls we spin up around stories in the news, such as new rules on wake boats and whether the new drone show is the answer to Milwaukee's defunct July 3 fireworks show at the lakefront.
Those polls are typically handled by our Ideas Lab team, which has dramatically increased the number of of opinion pieces and letters to the editor we are publishing, in print and online. You can fill out a form or send submissions to jsedit@jrn.com.
Sidenote: If you send me an email complaining you don't agree with the letters you see, my response will be to ask if you have submitted one yourself.
Meanwhile, our investigative team has been holding training sessions on how to use open records laws, a tool that we use regularly but is available to all to get access to government information. (If you would like reporters to join your neighborhood meeting to talk public records, let us know – you can email Ashley Luthern, our deputy investigations editor, at ashley.luthern@jrn.com.)
And our Public Investigator team is busy chasing down your tips, from helping a kidney donor get paid leave from the U.S. Postal Service, to getting a dying man his disability benefits from Social Security to exploring why patrons of a Bay View restaurant kept getting parking tickets.
Reach them at: watchdog@journalsentinel.com or call 414-319-9061. You can also submit tips at jsonline.com/tips.
On a recent day, we had a group from the Milwaukee High School of the Arts visit us to learn about journalism – one of many to visit us during the academic year.
Meanwhile, we've worked with students from Elmbrook and Wauwatosa high schools through their LAUNCH program, which gives students real-world problems to solve.
And you may see us out and about as volunteers, from sorting food at Feeding America to picking up trash at a park as part of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper cleanup.
In short, we are listening consistently and listening relentlessly.
I can assure you of this: We're also listening sincerely.
In return, we only ask one thing of you – share your views in a thoughtful way. It is easy to blast off an email that says: 'You're biased' or 'You're racist' or 'Your website sucks.' It is far more helpful to provide specific examples of problematic headlines, or suggestions of topics to cover.
LIkewise, don't just tell us you love us or that we're great – though we definitely like to hear it. Tell us why. What features do you enjoy? What journalists do you follow? What is a recent story that caught your attention? What did you like about it?
What do you want to see more of? Or less of?
So, with that in mind, we invite you to take a moment to fill out a short survey at https://bit.ly/MJS_poll. Share a thought, ask a question. Let us know what you think.
We'll read all the submisisons and respond to as many as we can as quickly as we can.
With sincerity, and gratitude.
Greg Borowski is executive editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @GregJBorowski and reach him via greg.borowski@jrn.com.
Connect with the Journal Sentinel
Subscribe and support independent journalism: jsonline.com/deal
Support our reporting on neighborhoods, the environment, education and other key issues: givebutter.com/milwaukee-journal-sentinel
Send a news tip: projects.jsonline.com/tips
Reach the newsroom: jsmetro@journalsentinel.com or 414-224-2318
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Journal Sentinel staff is listening. Tell us what you think, Milwaukee
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