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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 11, 1993                   TAG: 9306110353
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COVERAGE OF GOP CONVENTION WAS BIASED

Starting out with emotional catch words of "anti-gun control" and "anti-abortion ticket" in the very first paragraph, it went on to a number of negative comments such as the cloak-and-dagger observation that "a number of Republican activists in the hall wondered privately whether Farris . . . will bring the ticket down." What a cheap shot! What about myself and other GOP convention delegates who know that Farris adds strength to the ticket because he supports positions held by a majority of Republicans and Virginians? Why weren't those delegates interviewed? Most Republicans and Virginians want better education for their children, safer streets, legal reform, fiscal responsibility in government, lower taxes, etc. This is what Farris is committed to fighting for for fellow Virginians.

This was followed by other negative comments. Don Moseley's comment that "The Nazis are taking over . . . " - what does that mean? If he thinks the free exercise of selecting our party's candidates at a convention is the Nazis taking over, then Moseley has a poor understanding of the political process and what Nazism was. And to think that you even lent credibility to the statement by putting it in print! Where is your journalistic responsibility?

Conservative activists brought thousands of new people into the nominating process. Isn't that what good representative government is all about, or do you want to exclude those with whom you do not agree?

It is interesting to note that the political scientists quoted in the article were obviously liberal (since you want to hang tags on people). Where is balanced reporting when there wasn't even an attempt to search out a balanced observation of the GOP convention? Since fair play is apparently too much to ask in reporting this campaign, just tell us right up front that you are against traditional family values, religious freedom and those things that have made this the greatest nation. Virginians deserve better than this on the front page.

Also, why was the Kay Bailey Hutchinson landslide victory in Texas shoved to the back page of the first section? Surely that story deserved front-page recognition more than "fresh air in the cabins of our airplanes." JIM CROSBY DALEVILLE