All steamed up about coffee

Spectrum, by James Mead

It's been a while since I've thumbed through the Frontiersman. I remember the days as a child when I had a one day per week job peddling the publication on the street -- well, actually from the entry of my father's general store. I made a whopping five bucks a week then. That was a lot of money and it was great!

I've stopped buying the Frontiersman consistently these days though as it has been filled with too much filler. This "filler" isn't just the silly human interest stories that plague the paper now, but also nationally distributed junk articles, or "soft news," if it can qualify for that. I suspect it's there for two reasons. One, to thicken up the paper so there can be a Sunday edition (two weekly editions bordered on more than enough,) and two, because it's cheaper than actually paying somebody to dig up quality local stories.

If the Frontiersman could stir up more quality local stories, perhaps the paper would hold more value to its readers and that would sell more copies. A good example of the lack of quality is in the Sunday, Feb. 8 edition. The front page is a story on the Valley's coffee business, a good topic of soft news interest. However, there must have been a real need to fill up the page. The photo image of a latte took up nearly a quarter of the page and the bizarre font choices took up another eighth. Then, a portion of the article about Fireside Books in Palmer (a wonderful bookstore, I might add) was repeated in its own article again on page A9. Was there a reason for repeating the story with the same information? To make matters worse, the story was plagues with inaccuracies. A "mochalettoe" and a "espressiattoccineo" must be new coffee drinks since I was in the coffee business myself -- or is this mockery? Coffee Roastery owner Ron Maclure is accurately "Maclure" in the second article, but repeatedly misspelled as "Aclure" on the front page. Does anyone proof the paper before publication?

Just to clarify more inaccuracies in the article, an "Amaretto" is not "a latte mixed with almond syrup." Amaretto is almond flavored liquor. An Amaretto Latte is a latte mixed with Amaretto flavored syrup (or real Amaretto if you're in a bar), which is distinctively a different flavor than just almond syrup. "Crema" is not "the foam formed on top of a cappuccino drink during the brewing process," it is the creamy foam-like collection of the finer flavored oils from the coffee that forms on the top of the coffee itself during the brewing process. A "cappuccino drink" is made with foamed milk and the crema is usually destroyed when milk is added.

There are more inaccuracies, but not important to point out. The point is, here is an example of an article not researched well enough, and it happens often.

Whenever I feel the need to criticize something so harshly, I always look for the good by finding five good things, and there are lot's of good things about the Frontiersman.

One, there are some great reporters on staff, such as Casey Ressler, who may soon become an icon for the Valley with his good writing and honest appeal.

Two, both the Sports and the Outdoors section do a good job covering important events and issues that concern us locally.

Three, the Arts and Entertainment Calendar, Church Directory, Outdoor Briefs, and other event or club listings are a valuable asset for our community.

Four, the Frontiersman has been a supportive cheerleader for the Valley.

Five, it's our paper and we're proud of it!

This little personal evaluation of the Frontiersman is not just to tear it apart, but to point out things that need improving in order for it to be a great paper. It provides a valuable and wanted service; it just needs to be about us in the Valley, our issues, our opinions, our events, and our life (and please, not about somebody's opinion in New York of a new book that's out.) It doesn't need to replace other news sources that give us news on a grander scale, like national and international issues. It does need to be taken seriously, and to do that, it needs to put the hard news first and the soft news only as absolutely necessary. As a child I stood up for the Frontiersman when the Valley Sun briefly threatened to take its place as the Valley's main news source. I'm proud of the Frontiersman and maybe that's why I expect more from it.

Oh, and by the way, the hanging indent on the classified ads doesn't work, it makes it look like something is missing.

James B. Mead is a Wasilla resident.