Jack Burke, the new business editor at the Rockford Register Star, wrote in his Monday column that since he became business editor 10 days ago, he has heard from at least one reader a day to bring back the listings.
No, not the stock listings, but the real estate listings that were recently cut from the section.
Burke wrote, “Since I was named to my new position 10 days ago, I’ve gotten a call or e-mail a day asking us to publish all Rock River Valley real estate listings in the newspaper, not just the biggest.
“We used to run several pages of listings each Monday, but in conjunction with a new Monday business design, we streamlined our presentation and now list just the top 10 transactions. That happened at the end of June.
“Let’s make it clear: The listings are still available and they’re free. We just deliver them in a different way.
“In conjunction with the redesign, we started a searchable online database of transactions and building permits at www.rrstar.com/publicrecords that goes back to January 2005. Frankly, we give you the information sooner and in a way that lets you extract as much or as little of it as you want.
“Still, for a lot of our readers, it’s been a pain. Many of the complaints have come from people who don’t have computers or are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with searching databases.”
Read more here.
