One Thing Voters Agree On: Better Campaign Coverage Was Needed

[Commentary] Since the election, I have been on the phone with many Times readers around the country to discuss their concerns about The Times’s coverage of the presidential election. The number of complaints coming into the public editor’s office is five times the normal level, and the pace has only just recently tapered off. My colleague Thomas Feyer, who oversees the letters to the editor, says the influx from readers is one of the largest since Sept. 11.

Many people are commenting on the election, but many are venting about The Times’s coverage. Readers are also taking to the comments section of Times articles to talk about it, says the community editor, Bassey Etim. From my conversations with readers, and from the e-mails that have come into my office, I can tell you there is a searing level of dissatisfaction out there with many aspects of the coverage.

[Liz Spayd is the public editor for the New York Times]