"You learn a lot about people by seeing which section of the Sunday paper is opened first--there are sports section people and entertainment people and … you get the idea.

What then do we know about someone by seeing which freebie weekly is awaited on area news racks? Is there a C-Ville Weekly person who eagerly greets each Tuesday? A HooKer with a Thursday habit?

For a while, The Observer had a strong and distinct editorial personality, driven by Jeff Peyton. He was the Publisher and Editorial Director for over two years ending last November. Peyton has deep associations with the Christian Right, and tried to bring that point of view to the paper.

The new owner and publisher is Kimberly Robbins, who has a business management and accounting background, and has been with the paper for 14 years. She is 39 and married with two children.

We spoke last Thursday with Ms Robbins and Ron Hasson, the new editor, at the paper's offices on Angus Road.

[L-R] Ron Hasson and Kimberly Robbins

She wants us to see the Peyton era as an aberration - a small, temporary shift of emphasis in a 25-year arc. Kay Peaslee was a founder and Observer owner and publisher from 1978 to '88. It's that previous era to which Robbins points as the "real" Observer. In fact, Peaslee now has a monthly column.

Peyton hired Ron Hasson last August as a news and feature writer, backing up Amanda Greene, the editor. With the birth of her first child, Greene has decided to make maternity leave permanent. Ron becomes the editor, and will continue to write much of the news coverage and some features. He's 32, not married and has no children.

He has a strong interest in politics, and casts a new-to-the-area eye on local issues and the political alignments that they bring. "I came here from North Carolina, and I have to say, 'Liberal' and 'Conservative' really mean different things here." He gets the feeling that politics is more issue-driven in our part of the South. "In Carolina, politics is much more mixed with religion. Especially for the conservatives." Here, he feels, issues are more likely to be judged on their merits by both sides. A good thing.

"My personal views are probably conservative locally, liberal on national issues - but I try to not bring personal views into my news reporting." Under Jeff, he says he "never felt used politically-other than [being asked to] report what people do and say."

Of his plans for political coverage, Ron says "there's plenty on both sides to do. [For example] I'm now regularly attending both [Republican and Democratic monthly] breakfasts - and the other media are not attending [regularly]. And I'm getting a lot that way. "I want to accurately report issues and what people are saying; to find issues that don't get covered. The challenge is to find those things that are different and important to people."

He wants to give readers the 'average 'guy on the street' take on things - how is it going to affect me? What should I know about it?"

There's a feeling that both C-Ville Weekly and The HooK have a Charlottesville-centric view. "For example, [I find that] people in Charlottesville view the surrounding area as a bedroom - and of course, the people already living there don't [see themselves that way]- they're concerned with [things like] preserving rural quality and their traditions."

Kimberly and Ron want the Observer to report with this regional overview.

Says Hasson, "… there are [also plenty of] opportunities within the city worth covering - development - I've never seen so much activity surrounding development. One issue, for instance … the route 29 bypass [has a] tremendous impact on all kinds of other things … And the University and the interactions with the community …." He grows more excited as he envisions the possibilities.

These are issues "the other media brush on from time to time - [there's] no end to the stories …."

And as editor he will write editorials. He wants them as much as possible, to be personal but not subjective. "They'll be my take on issues, not my opinion about them."

A Different Look and Feel

Robbins points out differences with The HooK and C-Ville Weekly: "they do more arts and entertainment - [they have these] huge listings. They tend to do one major story per issue. And we have a different look [broadsheet rather than tabloid] So we'll have a different look for advertisers as well."

The Observer distributes about 20,000 copies per week, but has has not been audited to show how many copies are actually picked up. It does have a number of things the others don't: There's Military News, and obits. Sports.

There's a bridge column (although, in one recent issue, they ran the deal and bidding, but not the play of the hand and the analysis, which is why you have a bridge column.)

Another significant difference (although we have not been able to determine what the significance is) is the extra-copy price. The HooK and C-Ville Weekly charge $1.00, according to their mastheads, while your second Observer will set you back just $0.50.

A Different Point of View

Robbins wants the world to know, "If people were dismayed when Jeff took over, those times are gone."

For one thing, you won't be able to get your 'Goode News' in the Observer any more.

But they do want Virgil (and Mitch and Creigh and Rob Bell, etc.) to comment as they see fit, and if it's appropriate, will run it as part of their news coverage.

Barbara ('Out of My Mind') Rich continues to cover culture for the paper--Robbins points out that she's "the only regular theater reviewer in town."

Jenny Clark, formerly a Public Relations person with UVa's Health Sciences Center, will write on health issues. There's sports coverage, and they're looking for "a different point of view for book reviews."

So it's a feisty mix of news and opinion we'll be seeing in the Observer. Feisty? News and opinion? Could probably be said of some other weeklies. We know that if it's Tuesday we look for C-Ville. Thursday the HooK. Will Wednesday become Observer day? (Dave Sagarin, March 24, 2003)

Editor's Note: This web site has occasionally published letters from The Observer to targeted groups. A look at the similarities and differences between that from Jeff Peyton and from Kimberly Robbins is instructive.