TUESDAY'S LETTERS: Redesigning for Profit, Megan McClung, Sean Penn

By: E&P Staff In today's letters, a reader challenges Fox News correspondent Oliver North's credentials as a journalist, others challenge Sean Penn's credentials as a political activist, and anther comments on how newspaper redesigns affect the bottom line.


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Oliver North and Megan McClung

With all due respect to Marine Maj. Megan McClung, referring to Oliver North and Fox News as "journalists" is an insult to the profession.

Harvey Summers

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Redesigning for Profit

While everyone agrees that a redesign alone cannot boost circulation, we've repeatedly seen a direct connection between redesigns and revenue increases.

From California to Connecticut, from North Carolina to Kansas, newspapers are using redesigns to boost their bottom line.

For an industry looking for some good news, this may be a bright spot. It certainly appears that redesigns can boost revenue despite circulation slips. Newspapers should pursue revenue-boosting redesigns as a short-term tactic to support margins while they struggle with the strategic issues of declining circulation, online migration and market fragmentation.

Alan Jacobson
Norfolk, Va.

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Sean Penn's Call for Impeachment


What on earth qualifies Sean Penn to comment on politics. He's an actor, for crying out loud, and not a very good one. He needs to crawl back under his rock and you all need to quit giving him press time.

Martha Hamby
Dallas, Texas

Letter writer, Martha Hamby asks: "What on earth qualifies Sean Penn to comment on politics. He's an actor, for crying out loud, and not a very good one."

I believe what qualifies Sean Penn to comment on politics would be the First Amendment. It's the same right given to actors like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to comment on politics.

Wiley Miller

What gives this mediocre thespian the right to negotiate with enemies of our country and to espouse knowledge of things he has no concept of, such as honor and courage? I can answer my own question: our Constitution and the men and women who defend his right to dishonor his country. He should be ashamed to call himself an American.

James Slark


You must be really hard up for news to publish the ranting of a moron like Sean Penn. The man is an idiot

John Dendy
Atlanta, Ga.


Is there a reason anyone should care what an illiterate has-been actor has to say?

Mark Wolin
Jackson, Miss.


Don't know who he is. Don't care what he says. But I believe in Free
Speech so let him speak.

Tommy Hester


Wow Sean Penn now represents journalistic freedom. Now you know why your industry is in a death spiral. No one believes a man who lauds Castro and decries the human rights violations of our president.

Charles Gilreath