We have been asking questions, and many of you have been tellingus what you like and dislike about The DAILY LEADER as well aschanges you would like to see us make.

The questions have been part of an Internet based readershipsurvey we are currently conducting as part of a national newspaperreadership survey.

While we have a strong local sample of responses, we need andwould like more responses from our subscribers and non-subscribers.Currently 73% of our responses are from subscribers while 26% ofthe responses are from non-subscribers. Hopefully, many of thesenon-subscribers will become regular subscribers once we havereacted to the results of the survey.

So far, what are our readers saying? Well, some are telling usthey want better coverage of city and county crime, while othershave told us more state and national news is important to them.

While many want more news about our area schools, there are somewho think we give too much coverage to the schools. With 96% ofrespondents placing education as high on their interest list, it islikely we will continue our efforts to promote education in thearea.

We have readers who think we should do more investigativereporting and print more letters to the editor. A couple of readerswant us to increase our coverage of health issues and set up a Teensection. One reader wants more “substance and less fluff,” whileothers like us just the way we are.

Of special interest to us, 27% of our readers believe ouraccuracy is excellent and 69% think it is good, while 1% believeour accuracy is poor. In our efforts to cover local issues, 31%think we do an excellent job and 64% think we do a good job, while2% think we do a poor job.

Most importantly to us, 72% of you think we cover issues fairlywhile 6% think we do not.

It is also interesting to know that 62% of you are interested incity issues, and 68% of you are interested in county issues. At thesame time, 37% of you always read sports but 13% could carelessabout athletic activities.

One area we will be looking closely at is our Opinion page. Wefind that several of our syndicated columnists — such as John Leoand Robert Novak — are hardly ever read while folks like SidSalter, Charlie Reese and Cal Thomas are popular. We would like toknow which columnists you want to read.

However, time is running out for you to give us your comments.The last day to participate in the survey is next Friday. So, ifyou have not given it a try, go on line and point your browser towww.pulseresearch.com/brookhavenms, or go to our web site atwww.dailyleader.com and click on the Pulse Research button.

We would love to know your opinion. And remember, those whoparticipate have a chance to win $3,000 in the nationwidedrawing.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602.