Altus Galaxy: Readers' Preferences for Six Categories of News Stories

Abstract

Questionable readership, the rise of military underground publications, and the end of the draft and dawn of the all-volunteer era prompted Air Force commanders, information officers and editors to question the values of their base newspapers in the early 1970s. During this period, I was editor of the Altus Galaxy, one of the Air Force's 150 base newspapers. As a "gatekeeper," I frequently was sweet-talked, cajoled, badgered, shoved and tugged by fellow Air Force members, and even their wives, "to get their story in the paper." Faced with deadlines, a limited staff and not enough editorial space, I often wondered what news was interesting and valuable to my audience, and what--barring directives from higher up--should receive top priority. This exploratory study was aimed at finding out readers' preferences for different types of news stories in the Altus Galaxy, Altus Air Force Base's newspaper.