TODAY'S LETTERS: Readers Respond To Senator Craig, Bilal Hussein And Steve Outing

By: E&P Staff Readers wrote in today about Senator Larry Craig, Bilal Hussein and Steve Outing.


Craig Calls Idaho Paper 'Classless' After New X-Rated Story
If the newspaper has fabricated this story about Sen. Craig, as he would have us believe, then why hasn't he filed a libel suit against the paper as well as against the gay men who have come forward with their allegations?

Wiley Miller

Date Set for U.S. Releasing Evidence Against AP Photog in Iraq
I am at a loss here. For months I have been reading that the military should not be conducting trials because Iraq has a democratically elected government.

Now the military is allowing the Iraqi justice system to handle the decision and prosecution of Hussein and the AP does not want that they want the military to just release him without verifying whether he is a terrorist or not. The AP is also complaining that the military refuses to release the evidence of MR Hussein?s guilt but you know if they did release proof of his guilt to the media they would complain the military was trying to convict him through the media.

I agree that 19 months is too long to wait for a trial and if innocent he should get a quick trial and release. If on the other hand he is guilty perhaps a deferred trial is keeping him alive longer than he would be if he already had a trial. It seems to me the AP is trying to establish some type of Diplomatic Immunity for their employees and quite frankly that is very egotistical of them as it is not deserved.

David J. Horchak
Houston


An Important Lesson About Grassroots Media
Citizen Media is clearly here to stay and as you accurately point out the single most important aspect is quality. You can learn more about it by
reading this report.
I believe that across the nation people are exposed to so much media today that the competition for mindshare is ever more fierce. In the small slice of time left that is truly discretionary each day it's simply human nature to reject the unimportant, or low quality material. Your suggestion that the pro and amateur sources share the space is a good one...and assuming you get a great photo or video submitted I couldn't agree more. The trick is to get it in the first place.

Beyond the old journalism model of One to Many, now breaking down toward Many to Many there's a middle ground. I think journalists will simply have to be better EDITORS. Even the best enterprising reporters can't match a huge group of citizen contributors, many of whom might have inside information, were there at an event, or are uniquely qualified to comment. In the past, the reporter would contact these people, and distill their information into a story. That's still a valuable role of course, but increasingly those sources are willing to post their own views, content, and information. But only a FEW of them.

I think we will see models where we PAY or encourage contribution from the public (or at least reward them) with something more than an online acknowledgment. While it's true that the number one reason people contribute to an online site is a desire for recognition, news organizations are not doing to enough to highlight this and get people to send in their contributions. It's not unlikely that Video of the Week, News Tip of the Week, even a kind of monthly lottery or giveaway program (limited and encouraging new contributors) will find some traction. Studies show (as you discovered) that only a very few website visitors ever really contribute very much. There isn't a real incentive there. But there certainly could be.


Patrick Robinson