Joint Chiefs Criticism Latest in High-Ranking Letters To 'NY Times' and 'Wash Post'

By: Joe Strupp When The Joint Chiefs of Staff penned a letter to the editor this week slamming a Tom Toles cartoon in The Washington Post, it was not the first time the paper had heard from the military's highest-ranking officers.

Although all six members of the joint chiefs had never written to the paper before, according to Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt, they had individually contacted the Post to let their feelings be heard in the past. "We have had letters from the chairman and different chiefs," said Hiatt, who has run the editorial page for six years. "It is probably two or three times a year. When we get them, we generally publish them."

As Washington's largest daily paper, the Post also gets its share of letters from Congress members and high-ranking department heads, notes Hiatt, although he declined to name specific examples. "It is not uncommon," says Hiatt. "But it is a small percentage. We get thousands of letters." Hiatt has defended running the Toles cartoon, which pictured a "Dr. Rumsfeld" visiting a quadruple-amputee in a military hospital.

The New York Times has had a similar experience, according to Letters Editor Tom Feyer, who says reactions from congressional members and administration officials are "fairly common."

"It would be pretty rare to get a letter from an active, high-ranking military official though," notes Feyer, who has edited letters at the paper since 1999. "But this administration is pretty good about responding, especially to editorials."

Just yesterday, the Post published a letter from Dorrance Smith, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, which criticized a Jan. 24 story on Defense Department response to Hurricane Katrina. Hiatt said Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has also sent a missive in recent months.

Feyer said both New York senators, Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, had written letters during the past 30 days. Others in recent months have ranged from Interior Secretary Gale Norton to John R. Miller, an advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "We look at the news value and give special attention to a right of reply to an editorial or a story," Feyer said.

The White House also has sent letters to both, although Hiatt and Feyer did not recall any personally from Bill Clinton or George W. Bush during their time at the helm.

The Post prints an average of eight to 10 letters daily, while the Times publishes between 13 and 18. Both editors said the same number appear on their Web sites. But they stressed that Web editors also post other kinds of feedback unrelated to the editorial page online.

"We handle all letters by calling to make sure they are genuine and exclusive to us and if they are newsworthy," Hiatt added. "Unfortunately, we don't have nearly enough room to run all that we would like to."