Many of you clearly care about The Miami Herald. Nearly 175 of you responded thoughtfully to my request for ideas on what content the paper should emphasize in an era of staff cuts. I can't reprint all of your responses, but following are representative excerpts. I hope the writers will understand that I edited their excerpts for space. All letters are being shared in full internally. Let's keep talking.

I have kept a Wall Street Journal article from 2001 about the daily newspaper in Dunn, N.C. The article notes the paper has a penetration rate of 112 percent, versus 53 percent for the average newspaper. The formula for their success was to ``offer loads of down-home news that readers can't get anywhere else.''

The Miami Herald has almost no local content. The paper gets my highest marks for its recent excellent coverage of housing, public transportation and other major issues. I continue to subscribe because of The Herald's investigative journalism. But there has been almost no coverage of Hallandale where I live and work, nor of many other cities in South Florida.

-- Michael Butler, Hallandale Beach

I ask that you try to maintain an emphasis on international affairs. With two wars raging and a multitude of international issues affecting our lives in South Florida, it seems to me as necessary as ever to provide more than local news coverage.

I strongly favor The Herald's news coverage becoming more analytical and explanatory. Facts and data are easy to come by in the information-rich environment in which we live. The challenge is what to do with this information. What does it mean?

-- Joseph F. Patrouch, Miami Beach

I agree with adding a conservative slant. I am a bit left-of-center, liberal on social issues, a bit more conservative on government involvement in people's lives. I want to hear what the other side is saying. If they can make an intelligent argument, I am eager to listen.

What is most important to me is that The Herald survives to blow the whistle, investigate, create a community dialogue. You're the only watchdog left. I would more carefully frame the debate. The typical format is left/right, for/against. I think an editorial board could give some time to providing more than two categories on an issue, and let the public fill in the blanks.

-- Andrew L. Brickman, Ph.D.

I can't imagine the paper without its distinguished columnists. The opinion pages of The Herald are very important for readers like me. I already receive all the local and national news from other news organizations and the Internet, but I find the value of the paper is the opinion section. Further, I am very upset reading the possibility of dismissing the classical-music columnist and at-large cultural critics.

-- Dr. Juliet Hananian, Miami

Well, what's gone wrong is painfully, shamefully, embarrassingly simple: The readership changed and the paper didn't. It still reads as though it's in the Miami of 60 years ago. Latino writers in English are either scarce or inane, and Latino subjects are treated superficially, anthropologically, unsympathetically, or not at all -- never mind that the only edition that's thriving is the Spanish-language one. Hullo? Need any more hints for reform?

-- Juana Bimba

I realize that my website, Business Buzz, is all about covering an old-fashioned beat -- in this case, chambers of commerce meetings. But I actually get out of the office and go to meetings, and talk to a lot of people. I occasionally taunt The Herald's business editor, Lisa Gibbs: ``Come and get me! Assign someone to this beat and knock me off. I'm an easy target. The Herald should be covering these meetings -- they are your advertisers and potential advertisers. I am 65. Take this away from me and let me retire in peace.''

But no. No interest. In the hundreds of meetings I've attended over the years, I have rarely seen a Herald reporter.

-- Ed Gorin, Business Buzz

The growth of many municipalities has left a void in the coverage of our local governments. Lobbyists, developers, attorneys and contractors have managed to influence many of our local governments' decisions without the input or knowledge of its citizens. Neighbors frequently publishes only the official ''public-relations story'' released by these governments.

-- Frances Neuhut

Maybe it'd make sense to play to your audience. I'd bet that the readership of the paper itself is, like me, older and less interested in buzz. I'd love to see the company save all the fluff, like that awful People Page or the 5-Minute Herald, for its online version. Just give us the news.

I'd also like to see more local news, particularly of an investigative nature. Dumping the national news to make room for this makes sense, as most of us get our national and world news online or on TV or radio. I would hate, however, to see The Herald drop its Latin American coverage. That reportage is essential for our community, although I'd personally like to see a bit more ideological balance.

-- Mark Kmetzko, Hollywood

The Miami Herald is the very best when it digs its teeth into the issues that are out of sight from readers. The articles about affordable housing, farm workers, government misspending, the stadium and tunnel projects, etc., were all among the best in journalism.

To maintain this theme-oriented approach but meet the need for shorter, analytical articles, The Herald has many good examples to follow. The first that comes to mind is Andres Oppenheimer's articles about Latin America: always informative, analytical, well thought-out, but never boring. All international issues should be covered in that fashion.

A read-through of several Neighbors sections reveals that they are almost exclusively advertising sections. There must be lots of ways to cut back there.

-- Torben Riise, Miami

1. More investigative reporting.

2. Extend reporting on critical issues such as global warming, the destruction of fisheries, water management, land use, education (of which ours is among the worst in the nation), the lack of resources and family support in our inner city, and the distribution of wealth.

3. Improve the editing of your articles. I often am amazed that your reporters have passed their high school English classes.

4. Continue to support your columnists such as Mr. Pitts and Mr. Barry; their fearlessness and fun add meaning to our everyday lives. Be more assertive in your editorials. I agree with expanding this section as a way to have readers think more about the issues.

-- Jack Turken MD, Miami Beach

Dare to speak positive about the European Union and other new systems. Dare to speak positive about South American countries. Democracy is working there, too. Tell people how other comparable modern countries deal with health and death and daily living issues.

Local news can indeed be addressed more analytically with more in-depth investigative reporting. The current reporting of local news in Neighbors of ''he said'' and ''she said'' is not helpful. Viewpoints cancel each other out. Why not get to the root of some issues and provide objective information.

-- Yvonne and Douglas Beckman, South Miami

Get rid of the neighborhood editions, including such oxymorons as the ''State and Keys'' section that never says anything about the Keys.

The best things in The Herald are its local-sports coverage (and excellent columnists), its pit-bull approach to Miami politics and corruption, its coverage of the local-music and arts scene, and its wonderful columnists in areas other than sports -- even if I don't agree with them.

-- James S Mattson, PhD, Key Largo

Although I receive a hard copy of The Herald, I usually read the newspaper weekdays online during my lunch hour. I read what distinguishes The Herald from other news outlets found on the Web: Latin American news, your unique columnists and your Florida news coverage, especially of Miami-Dade.

Your articles covering our local governments' mismanagement problems, such as the low-income housing debacle, are particularly important. I don't think any other newspaper can compete with them. I do agree that a more-balanced view of issues is necessary and having some right-leaning columnists would be good. You will need more than one for them to feel at home.

-- Wilca Gallagher, Coral Gables

Please do not cut the international and national news. The only television news with such coverage are the BBC and Jim Lehrer's News Hour. The morning news belongs to you.

I cannot eat breakfast and read Internet reports, but I thoroughly read Section A at the breakfast table. The investigative reporting keeps our locals from completely giving away all our taxes. While corruption will always be there, at least your excellent investigations tamp down the level.

I also rely on The Herald to assist me in elections. Some things on our ballots are very difficult for ordinary people to analyze, and The Herald gives me that analysis. Without that reporting, I would not vote on many issues because I don't know enough about them.

-- Ann Chambers

In a community as diverse as the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area, there are many ethnic groups, but The Herald continues to be too Cuba-centric. If you want to develop a future readership, then start appealing more to the other groups. These include Jamaicans, Haitians, Central Americans, Colombians, Venezuelans, other South Americans and the white middle class that continues to move into the area. Let them know that they have a voice and they just might not move to Georgia and North Carolina.

-- Martin Karlin, Tamarac

It is incredible that in Miami, where we now have the new performing arts center, The Herald cannot support a classical-music critic. No wonder newspapers are finding fewer and fewer subscribers as they become less and less relevant.

-- Agustin Rios, Coral Gables

We have had much worse economic times, and yet newspapers did well. Stop whining and confront your real business climate. Readers have great new ways to get the news for free, and this won't change anytime soon. Newspapers will continue, albeit with a smaller and yet more loyal audience. Think of yourselves as a magazine, published daily.

To increase revenue, I suggest you develop a free daily, too. Maybe a more robust ''Neighbors'' section is the key.

Stop insulting the intelligence of what are probably your most loyal readers: well-informed conservatives. You are not our only source of information by a long stretch. Yet, with the exception of Oppenheimer, all other Herald reporters are so much to the left that we no longer choose to read them. You know what happens next? We simply find it not worth it to spend nearly $200 a year on you. [Editor's note: A new daily subscription to the paper can be had for $2.66 per week, or less than $140 for a whole year.]

-- Jaime Basagoitia, Miami

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