Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News.

The article features Dr. Risk, a program by the Sacramento Bee which aims to invite Sacramento-area resident each week to offer counsel at page-one story conferences in an effort to remedy a troubled reader/journalist relationship. The program's result according to Morton Saltzman, the Sacrament Bee's deputy managing director, is that readers disgruntled over assumed biases and seemingly arbitrary front-page choices leave the Bee with a different perspective, and journalists leave the conference room knowing some concerns of those they write for. The first Dr. Risk after September 11, 2002 wanted more stories about the attacks. The next Dr. Risk wanted to know more about Afghanistan's relationships with its neighboring countries. Responding, the Bee ran a graphic on it. Among those who already became Dr. Risk include David De Luz, a public affairs consultant and Associate Justice Fred Morrison. Dr. Risk, Morrison pushed for coverage of the war in Iraq and legal issues he thought deserved broader attention. The Bee is not only paper to try to bring readers in. The Detroit Free Press has had an open invitation to the public since the early 1990s. And Tacoma, Washington's News Tribune and Portland, Maine's Press Herald also have brought readers in.