LETTERS: War Coverage and Intelligent Design on Trial

By: Jay DeFoore Want to add your voice to the conversation? E-mail us at letters@editorandpublisher.com.

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Good Local Coverage of Our Troops

Re: One State -- and One Newspaper -- Debate How to Observe Iraq Casualties

While I agree that the deaths of local soldiers should appear on the front page, I also lament how few papers devote A1 space to telling the stories of their local soldiers -- period. Our humble little paper in Wisconsin has sought out any returning soldiers, be it while on leave or at the completion of their tour of duty. We have even run column-like pieces penned by locals serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Readers have found these pieces tremendously interesting and a balance to the death-toll-of-the-day-count stories we get from the wire service. Readers do wonder why our wire stories do not lead with "there we no U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq today," when they always do when there is a death.

Steve Fountain
Editor, The Reporter
Fond du Lac, Wis.

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Editorializing Casualties in a Socialist Utopia

Reading the article on newspaper editorial opinion of "local" casualties prompts everyone's anecdotals, and here's mine.

Between Saddam's statue falling and Bush on the carrier deck, I had lunch with an editor at a big market daily. Our lunch dates were long running and peer-to-peer.

I said, "there are no WMDs in Iraq." Editor said, "are, too." Indeed, it became a verbal donnybrook, each one cement-sure in his or her knowledge. My science knowledge proving it scientifically impossible for WMDs to be there, like scientific proof of anthropogenic-driven climate changes, or scientific proof of evolution, did not educate the editor.

I insisted, finally, absolutely no WMDs were in Iraq, and the rejoinder came -- from exactly the person who the Star Tribune's readers' representative asks for fair Press: "Well, then, they better plant some there quick."

I cancelled my subscription immediately. Newspapers should die in capitalism, and live again in socialism as each market's public-owned monopoly.

Wendi Meremark

Ed's Note: With the widespread newspaper industry layoffs in the past year and the uncertainty hovering over Knight Ridder after one of its institutional investors asked for a sale or break-up of the company in order to maximize the value of its shares, people are starting to debate Wall Street's corporate ownership of the newspaper industry. For more on this, see Joe Mathewson's much-debated Dec. 8 column in which he outlines several scenarios for newspapers going the non-profit route.

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Mass Graves Prove that Taking Out Saddam Was Justified

In an article available from AP the following was written:

"Human rights organizations estimate that more than 300,000 people, mainly Kurds and Shiite Muslims, were killed and buried in mass graves during Saddam's 23-year rule, which ended when U.S.-led forces toppled his regime in 2003."

Hitler killed millions before he was stopped. Stalin killed even more. To all the people who think this war is unjust answer the following question: At what number of murders does it justify taking a stance? The same people who complain about the war are also complaining when nothing is being done about mass murders. If you have a better solution I am sure everyone would love to hear it. Since the UN is incapable of implementing and enforcing sanctions, as seen by their corrupt handling of the oil for food program, this is not a viable answer.

David J Horchak
Newington, Conn.

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Yellow Journalism

Ben Franklin's comment that those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security applies to the editors of the Washington Post and NY Times. Having been lied to by the Bush Administration previously, why should they have trusted same when they were asked to postpone publishing stories they had developed concerning the use of the NSA to spy on American citizens? Clearly yellow journalism is the answer.

Mary Beth Bavitz

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Predicting Things that WOULD Have Happened?

Re: Koppel and Brokaw Agree: Clinton Would Have Gone Into Iraq, Too

Man, what kind of crazy stuff is this? It is precisely this inane babble that led me to turn the television off a few years ago for news. Have not missed it a bit. Why don't these two imbeciles ... errr, sorry, guys, mental giants run for office and solve all our problems?

Bill Rhodes

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On Intelligent Design

Re: Newspapers Played Key Role in Dover 'Intelligent Design' Debate

Mr. Mitchell; thank you for bringing some intelligence to the "intelligent design" campaign by conservatives. You'll undoubtedly be getting some flak, and the more you get the more you'll know you were right. It's so difficult to get some sensible coverage of the right's promotion of ID in place of Creation non-science's dismal failure. You must know that this latest attack on rational thinking is the product of the conservative lobby's well-financed campaign and that they'll be back with some other scheme -- and soon. What disturbs me is the almost total lack of coverage of the tens -- hundreds -- of millions of dollars that are flowing into tax-exempt "free-market" institutes and other thinly disguised lobbying campaigns to promote a right-wing agenda. I live in Boulder, Colo., where the local Scripps-Howard mouthpiece can only be described as "useless," and the Denver Post as "lazy," and they're both canceled out by the blatant right-wing bias of the Rocky Mountain News.

Yours is a needed voice of reason, and I promote it whenever possible.

Scott Mock

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On the Money

Right on the money!

As a Vietnam vet myself, I am angry that Mr. Bush and all those in his administration are able to get away with suppressing the death and injury count all too well so that the American public forgets the war unless Mr. Bush wants to use the troops as backdrops for one of his inane stay-the-course rah-rah messages. I will be so glad to see him gone.

Alan Charles
Fairmont, N.C.
www.alancharles.com