Some notes from around and about the Mirror newsroom to help keep you abreast of what we're doing and what we're trying to do:
The Blair County Chamber of Commerce staged a forum last week that included media representatives and members of the business community.
It was a cordial discussion on the concerns some have on how news - particularly at the national level - is presented and what effect that can have on local businesses.
Some good ideas came out of the meeting that we hope to implement down the road, and everyone in the room shook hands and felt the gathering was beneficial.
But there one was concern raised that's worth addressing: It was mentioned that there's too much bad news in the media.
Agree, you say? Maybe so, but we're conscious of it.
We sit in daily meetings to determine what will go on Page 1, and if there are three or four negative stories of, tragically, a murder, a baby being abused or a robbery, we try to balance that with a school-learning initiative or a feature photo of flowers blooming.
It is not always possible.
Conversely, when you click on altoonamirror.com, you'll find the most-read stories typically involve deaths, drug busts, fires and the like. That means people gravitate toward those stories.
I wanted to tell the group - OK, I didn't interrupt my old pal Byron Lasser - that a sunny day is not news and a tornado is.
We do feature a Monday Spotlight that is universally positive, an upbeat Life section that includes a daily Community news page and an award-winning sports section.
The bottom line on local business: We want it to succeed, too.
Believe me.
Mistaken identity
In presenting the rosters for the Altoona Mirror Basketball Classic, we encountered an unfortunate situation when the wrong picture ran of a Tyrone player.
Here's how it happened: When we had winter-sports athletes come to the Mirror for a photo shoot (plus we threw in a few hot dogs), we took group and individual pictures. Each athlete wrote his or her name on a board and held it up to ensure - we thought - accuracy.
It seems two students picked up the wrong boards, thus our announcement of the Blair County team was met with a collective groan by at least one Tyrone family.
This underscores the importance of presenting accurate information, including spelling, when being photographed.
We've corrected our errors over the years, and we corrected this one. But after discussing this with the half-dozen people involved, it was not our fault.
Courageous reporter
I hope you had a chance to read Wendy McCardle's column in the Life section last Sunday on her past challenges with bulimia.
It's called "Reporter shares her struggles with eating disorder," and it remains posted on altoonamirror.com.
It's a must read for anyone who has experienced a similar battle with this silent killer, and for Wendy to be able to expound on it publicly shows how well she's conquered it.
She deserves congratulations and, along with anyone dealing with such an illness, best wishes for continued recovery.
Wayward weatherman
The story about former WJAC-TV weatherman James Patrick Holcomb, or Jay Patrick as he was known on TV, has drawn its share of attention.
Holcomb pleaded no contest in 2004 after being arrested for sexual assault, then, while awaiting sentencing, he fled the country and finally was apprehended earlier this year in Ukraine.
This proves, apparently and thankfully, a weatherman can't go anywhere without being recognized.
Making progress
Tuesday's Mirror will include our annual People & Progress edition, one of our best overall efforts of the year and one sure to provide a week's worth of reading.
This also is the perfect opportunity for an out-of-Christmas season tip for your carrier given that the weighty paper may cause a hernia.
Mirror Managing Editor Neil Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.
