Who reads us.

• Position: UPFRONT

The October issue had been out only a few days when I received an email. "I enjoy reading BNC and have for some years," it began. "Generally, I find the articles of interest and well written with proper grammar. So I was stunned when I received my latest copy, which bears the headline Who's Best for Business?" He pointed out that it should have been Who's Better for Business? "There were only two candidates under review, so how can one or the other be best?"

Doh! If I were a lawyer, I would have mounted a defense: Sure, the cover on which that headline appears shows only Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory, but the ballot also bears the name of Barbara Howe, the Libertarian running for governor, plus a line for write-in candidates. But that doesn't wash: Fact is, we had confounded the superlative with the comparative usage.

That a BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA reader took us to task for such a slip is not surprising. You're an erudite, well-educated bunch--85% having graduated from a four-year college, 27% with a master's degree, 9% a doctoral degree and 15% with some sort of postgraduate study short of a degree. Oh, I know about you guys (88% male) because I've seen the draft of our latest readership survey, conducted this summer by Lewis & Clark Inc., an independent Raleigh market-research firm.

Among the highlights: Respondents reported an average household income of about $183,000 in 2011, individual income of $110,000, household net worth of $1.7 million...