---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993                   TAG: 9303260556
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

---

IF HELP COMES, IT'S FROM PEORIA

I WANT to complain about one editorial practice of your newspaper (actually, it's very popular in all of the media), which was clearly demonstrated on the front page of the March 10 edition.

The headline in the bottom right corner blares "Wilder warns Va. not to expect help from Washington." The likely, and obvious, picture that produces in a reader's mind is that sometime help could possibly come from Washington. That's like saying all news comes from Atlanta because that is where CNN is based.

The reality is that any help that may come to Virginia would come from taxpayers in Peoria, Ill., and Boise, Idaho. It won't come from some entity in Washington, D.C. (though, of course, the taxpayers there would also be contributing to the bill). Government - federal, state or local - is simply a medium through which taxpayers provide wealth and resources for certain objectives. Unfortunately, the lesson that a government is a self-sustaining entity is drummed into us by the media, by politicians and even by ourselves.

You are in an educational and fiduciary position, through which you can lead us back to face the reality that we are the blood and brains of all governments. Through the words that writers so carefully select, you can help people realize that it is Roanokers and people in Lexington, Ky., who are putting a supercollider in Texas, not some separate entity in Washington. So, please, pound into your editors' and writers' heads that all stories about government action should be approached from the reality that it is citizens (either as a group or individually) who are actually taking the action. KEENAN L. PAWLEY TROUTVILLE

---