THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409230026
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
What do Oliver North, crossword puzzles, Colin Powell and Monday-night football have in common? All were the subject of heated calls last week to the public editor's office.
The feedback on North began Sept. 16, the day a front-page article ran about the Republican Senate candidate. Headlined ``North has embellished family tale,'' it tore apart a bit of family lore that North has been relating in his campaign appearances.
It began when three reporters, comparing notes, realized they'd heard three slightly different versions of North's tale about his immigrant grandfather.
But the newspaper story angered at least a dozen readers. Said Mike Fremaux of Newport News: ``To have a front-page article smearing a person's character, saying he's lying and embellishing things, is really poor when you can't prove your facts any more than he can.''
Others asked if the newspapers planned a similar expose on incumbent Chuck Robb. ``If Ollie North had said he was taking food from orphans and widows, it would have been the top headline in bold print,'' said Rocco DeLauri of Chesapeake.
Well, Robb's memorable debate comment (he said, ``I would take food from the mouths of widows and orphans'' if it would help lower the national deficit) also made front-page news in the Pilot. ``Robb dumps on widows, orphans,'' began a Sept. 7 headline. But it was not, said DeLauri, as big a headline as the one on North's family tale.
All I can say is that North, Robb and Coleman are fair game at election time - and I don't mean for mud-slinging or smearing. Candidates for public office must be accountable for their claims, their promises and even family anecdotes, if they're used as a campaign pitch.
The tricky part is to be equally fair, and equally tough, on all the candidates.
CROSSWORD CRISIS. Forget politics - it's obvious that, in our readers' hearts, nothing ranks second to crosswords.
On Thursday, more than 130 called to let us know that something was badly wrong with that day's puzzle. They were right - the grid and the clues didn't go together, a goof made by the puzzle's distributor.
Readers already faced with a windy, rainy day did not appreciate this error. ``It just messed up my morning,'' said a typical caller.
But Charles White of Newport News actually thanked us for the challenge! He treated the puzzle like a diagramless and made up his own grid. Now that's turning a lemon into lemonade.
SEPARATIST WRITING. Several callers took us to task for calling the new Miss America a ``deaf dancer'' in our front-page story last Sunday. The phrase is a bit crass, but at least it's heartening to read about a bright, talented person overcoming what society views as a disability.
Worse was the description we carried of Colin Powell in our stories last weekend on the mission to Haiti.
In a capsule profile from Knight-Ridder News Service, the former national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is referred to as ``a black warrior.''
And on last Sunday's front page, a wire report calls Powell ``a career military man and, like (Haitian army chief Raoul) Cedras, of West Indian `mulatto' or mixed-race descent.''
``A black warrior!'' echoed Herman Lloyd of Chesapeake. ``Is he a terrorist? This kind of reporting is what causes racial tension. It shows separatism.''
It's also the sort of journalism I'd have expected in the apartheid days of South Africa, superficial and irrelevant. Powell is an American - an African American, if you prefer.
Better yet, in this context, he was a respected military leader.
IN THE LIONS' DEN. And finally, there's Monday-night football. Nearly 40 readers flagged us for a penalty Tuesday morning when they saw the Sports banner headline, ``Lions, Cowboys locked in overtime,'' and the tied score. Then came the surprise: They heard on TV or the radio that the Lions had won.
Advised one reader: If the game goes on past deadline, at least tell us. Another wondered if our sports editor is a secret Cowboys fan and was keeping the Lions victory a secret.
Editor Chic Riebel says the story should have made it clearer that the game, which didn't end until 12:40 a.m., was still going on at press time.
Touchdown, readers.
MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to
lynn(AT)infi.net. by CNB