Survey: Changes for base newspaper incoming Published April 1, 2008 By Master Sgt. Dale Yates 90th Space Wing Public Affairs F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The Warren Sentinel staff conducted in late 2007 a survey focused on how readers view the base newspaper. Results from the survey are now guiding future development of features tailored to address the concerns identified. Of the 694 survey's mailed to random Warren Air Force active-duty and civilian employees, 116 people responded. Almost all, 90 percent, said they read the Sentinel, and 86 percent are satisfied that the Sentinel keeps them informed. However, they also pointed to needed improvements. Most of those weaknesses focused on pay and benefits. Of the readers, 35 percent said the Sentinel did not keep them informed on pay and benefits, 49 percent said the Sentinel did a poor job with covering retirement benefits, and 42 percent said the Sentinel also did a poor job in covering financial news. To address this issue, the Sentinel staff is working to gather more news from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and Veterans Affairs. Readers may start noticing this change soon. Another weak area identified included recruiting and retention coverage. The staff has plans to work with the career assistance adviser, in-service recruiter and the local recruiting squadron to provide stories on this subject. The goal is to give people the information they need to decide if they wish to stay in the Air Force. This information is vast and may take several months to cover. Other desires from readers included more local community news. This change is already under way. Readers may notice that the "Briefs" column is now including some events that take place in the local area. The plan is to expand this information into a separate column solely focused on community events. Also, readers commented that they enjoy the Sentinel Salutes column and want to see more. The staff has a few ideas on how to expand this recognition, but it may take a while to institute those ideas. In the meantime, supervisors, first sergeants and commanders can nominate anyone for recognition in the Sentinel Salutes. A supervisor may wish to check with the unit first sergeant first, as most inputs come from first sergeants. Nominations can be e-mailed to sentinel@warren.af.mil with the person's name, rank, unit and reason for recognition. The last major concern from readers is the desire for more sports and fitness articles. This may pose the greatest challenge for the newspaper staff, but the staff plans to contact the fitness center and the youth sports director to fill this gap of information readers want. These changes may be gradual, but the goal is to provide Sentinel readers with the information they want. Those interested in seeing all the results from the newspaper survey may e-mail dale.yates@warren.af.mil to request a copy. Readers with complaints, concerns, ideas or compliments may always e-mail the staff at sentinel@warren.af.mil.