LETTERS: Pondering the Cheney Shooting, Muhammad Cartoons and Much More

By: E&P Staff If you want to add your voice to the discussion, send us an e-mail at letters@editorandpublisher.com.

Pondering the Cheney Shooting

As a former journalist (until the early 90s when I migrated to technology) let me first say I really enjoy your Web site.

This article is particularly good.

In general, however, I am frustrated at the lack of substance behind much of the coverage in the national media. The Cheney shooting story is huge, but I'm shocked at the lack of legal and public safety questions.

Here are a couple of questions to ponder:

When was the shooting reported to the Kenedy County Sheriff's Department by the Armstrong ranch? By whom?

Has this shooting been ruled accidental? When? By whom? What time? Has the scene of the shooting been investigated? Why has the sheriff's office not yet made a statement about the investigation?

Are shooting suspects normally allowed to leave the state of Texas without giving a statement to the Kenedy County Sheriff's department?

Has the vice president been treated differently than any other suspect in a hunting accident?

What charges can someone in this situation expect? Negligent discharge of a firearm? Hunting law violations, which often require probation and a monetary fine? Assault? Aggravated Assault?

The lack of answers to these questions point to the unfortunate conclusion that the vice president is above the law. Is he?

These questions don't begin to address the potential attempted cover-up. In 18 hours, stories can be rehearsed, witnesses tampered with, evidence compromised. The weather could have impacted the investigation of the scene of the shooting. Did it? What evidence has been lost?

Doug McDaniel
Knoxville, Tenn.


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Not a Fan of Journalists

Since when is it a crime to not report something to the press? I think the owner of the property should be investigated for a leak, you guys should be all for that, except of course when it hurts your socialistic tendencies. Now sit back, get out of the way, and wait until something newsworthy occurs, like the Oil for Food program, or the truth about these 'illegal' wiretaps. Better yet, find an occupation that is actually productive.

Jerry Vasilko

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So They Do Believe in Privacy Rights After All?

So the fact that this "accident" took place on private property made the White House think it was OK not to inform anyone about it? What a bizarre thing for an administration that thinks nothing of spying on its citizens without telling anyone about it to say! I guess if you're a big Republican donor, you still have some privacy rights to which the administration will defer. Why aren't I surprised?

Deb Schultz
Delaware

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Media Uses Imprecise Language When Discussing HIV and AIDS

The major media, including the New York Times, consistently misuse the terms HIV and AIDS. This is likely because, AIDS, an advanced stage of HIV infection, was discovered before HIV.

It is time to use the term HIV infection to describe the entire course of HIV and reserve the term AIDS for the advanced stage of HIV disease. The incorrect substitution of AIDS for the entire course of HIV works against public health, confuses the public, and diverts attention from important facts about the entire course of HIV. For example, while progression to AIDS has slowed in the U.S., the number of new cases of HIV annually -- about 40,000 -- has not dropped for decades. Misuse of the term "AIDS" -- as if this is the only important or difficult aspect of the disease -- distracts from this fact. As anyone living with HIV will tell you suffering occurs throughout the disease course, not only during AIDS.

An example of misuse of terminology is a recent editorial in the Times, which endorsed changed laws on the "AIDS test" (2/26/06). In fact, the editorial title is incorrect: the Times is obviously talking about HIV testing, early detection of HIV antibodies as a marker for HIV disease (there are also tests to detect virus rather than antibodies). The goal of HIV testing is quick referral to treatment. An "AIDS test," a term few practitioners would use, would determine if count of the white cells attacked by HIV had dropped below an arbitrarily chosen AIDS-defining level. This particular use of incorrect terminology made it more difficult for the public to access HIV testing. Public health?s first goal is prevention. The bottom line: Improper use of HIV and AIDS by the media has contributed to the public perception that HIV is a problem that has been solved; it has undercut prevention efforts.

I wrote a similar letter to my local newspaper, Orange County New York?s Times Herald-Record, last year, concerning this same issue -- misuse of the terms HIV and AIDS. They responded appropriately and promptly. Yet misuse throughout the media remains pervasive -- and dangerous to the public health.

Beatrice J. Krauss, Ph.D.
Professor of Urban Public Health and Executive Director, Hunter Center for Community and Urban Health
New York, N.Y.

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Speaking of Old Dallas Newspapers ...

Re: Bode, Last Editor of Old 'Dallas Times Herald,' Buys Texas Weeklies

I was aboard the staff of a certain Dallas daily newspaper in December 1991 when it was purchased and shut down. Since then, I keep seeing references to it by E&P and the Associated Press as the Dallas Times-Herald. According to my framed final edition that I worked on, it's Dallas Times Herald. No hyphen.

Jeff Rogers

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Muhammad Cartoons

While decisions on whether to publish the Muhammad cartoons were not ones to be made without serious introspection, I come down on the side of Rich Oppel of the Austin American-Statesman, who noted that while sensitivity to religious taboos is commendable, we as newspaper people must recognize the point where our own freedom to explain should take precedence over the taboos themselves. I might point out that to observant Jews, just putting the name "God" in print is a taboo, lest such a holy name be inadvertently erased or defaced in the editorial process. When observant Jews write in English, they most commonly euphemize the sacred name as "G-d." I have yet to see a mainstream American newspaper adopt this style -- nor have I seen thousands of Jews going off on killing rampages over the lack of it.

Gerry Goldstein
Greenville, R.I.
Retired editor and columnist, Providence (R.I) Journal

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If this is controversy is about "freedom of speech" perhaps discussion should be directed toward the media which is continually under the grips of the federal government, at least in the U.S. It seems that the "freedom of speech" argument is being used to justify any complaints of insensitivity on the part of publishers, while the implications of the subject is avoided. Even though the press is free to publish what they choose, that doesn't mean they don't have a responsibility to make the right choices.

Rana Buckner

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Nurse Investigated for 'Sedition'

Nurse Investigated for 'Sedition' After Writing Letter to Editor

Apparently Laura Berg, the nurse who wrote the letter to a weekly Albuquerque newspaper opposing government policies, was not aware of George Orwell's famous quotation: "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act."

Ulrike Johnson

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More Sedition Talk

Allow the mindset of unlimited power to be further established and all disagreements will be shut down. The policies of this administration are on a course opposite their public persona of freedom and democracy. Power loves more.

FR Benson

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Re: McClellan on "revealed" plot

So, let's see if I understand:

We couldn't talk about it then, because that might have revealed methods.

But we can talk about it today, because today is not yesterday.

2. It was a credible threat, even though it obviously could never have worked. That's why we didn't bother notifying the Mayor of L.A. then, but we're notifying you and him now because it's a good example of how the president is protecting you and him.

I think I just fell down a rabbit hole!

Richard Kelly
Tampa, Fla.

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It Ain't What It Ain't

Re: 'It Is What It Is,' The Sequel: Britney Leads the Deflections

Your discussion of "it is what it is" was excellent and important.

What disturbs me even more than its ubiquitous character is that few seem outraged.

E&P seems to have become the only bastion of journalistic standards. I cannot think of another outlet of any type that has not abdicated its responsibility to inform, to bring into the light lies, misdirection, propaganda, and the range of attempts to keep the American people in ignorance.

Keep up the outstanding work.

Charles Hand
Riverside, Calif.

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I enjoyed your article about Knight Ridder, our local paper the San Jose Mercury News is one of theirs. I am retired from aerospace, which is a volatile business so I never expected job security. Do most people thing that their jobs are for life?

Keith C. De Filippis
San Jose, Calif.