No 'dear idiot' letters in Rochester

Steve Sink, business editor of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, writes Sunday that reader reaction to changes in its business section have been much nicer than when he led an overhaul of Newsday’s business section in 1994.

Sink wrote, “Last week, I didn’t get a single ‘Dear Idiot’ when we launched this brand-new BusinessLife section. If my four years at the Democrat and Chronicle have shown me anything about this community, it’s that there’s a level of civility here that is much harder to find in the New York City metropolitan area.

“We received an encouraging number of positive responses to our decision to focus BusinessLife on local people and local businesses. Among the comments:

‘You’re right on track in keeping with what a local newspaper should be providing its readers.’

‘Clearly a huge improvement and much more relevant.’

‘The inclusion of more local news is welcomed.’

“But the readers I really want to speak with today are those who were taken aback by the changes. Some aren’t going to be placated because their comments show that they’d like us to be less local, not more.”

Read more here.Â