THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505200013
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Everyone seems to have a support group and it may interest you to know that public editors are no different. Ours is the Organization of News Ombudsmen.
Of course, we don't really call this a support group. ONO is a professional organization of newspaper reader representatives and we meet once a year to ponder such solemn issues as ethics, newspaper policy and stress management (ours).
This year we met in Fort Worth, Texas. I could tell you about our wide range of interesting speakers, from that ``left-wing cowgirl'' Molly Ivins to some gentlemen from way-y-y over on the other end of the political spectrum. Or I could tell you about the baseball-sized hailstones that left most of the cars we rode in looking like they'd been in a rodeo.
But for now I'll just play catch-up since a myriad of calls had piled up while I was away. For your information, they don't just accumulate in voice mail. Sonnie Auxier, who has staffed this public editor's office for 15 years, keeps a careful log and all comments are turned over to the newspaper staff.
Here are some that came up in the past two weeks:
Sex and the front page. Many readers bristle when the word ``sex'' is in large type and Wednesday was no exception.
``Most of us have sex on the brain,'' said a front-page headline about a sex survey. A graphic showed two fig-leafed figures.
``I would appreciate more discretion,'' said a Suffolk mom, who also objected to a child-abuse story being on the front page the previous day. ``Perhaps you could put them on an inside page where they may not catch children's attention.''
A parent of teens also objected, asking, ``Is this really important stuff?''
No, I wouldn't say the ``sex on the brain'' is important, but neither do I believe it will do any harm to young readers (except, perhaps, their spelling - the story referred to ``ffantisizing'').
As for Tuesday's article about the 9-year-old victim of child abuse, that story is an important, if troubling, lesson. It's a tragedy we can't hide from. I'd say parents need to make their children aware of these pitfalls.
Which is oldest? That question came up after we ran an Associated Press story last Sunday that referred to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard as the nation's oldest.
Joe Law called first thing Monday to correct the misconception. According to Law, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth - originally known as the Gosport Yard - is the oldest naval shipyard.
Law should know. He was public affairs officer at the Portsmouth yard for 14 years and is writing its history, which dates back to 1767. That's 228 years ago, compared to 193 years for Philly, as mentioned in the article.
But neither began as Navy shipyards - there was no Navy back then. And apparently both shipyards launched their first government vessels around the same year, 1778.
Then there are claims from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is either in Portsmouth, N.H., or Kittery, Maine, depending on whom you ask.
So who's right? Afraid I'll have to leave that to the maritime historians.
Controversial column. More than two dozen readers blasted a May 7 Commentary column that put ``at least a little blame'' on Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich for stirring up anti-government talk that contributed to the Oklahoma City bombing.
Not surprisingly, readers had some heated retorts - ``a pack of lies,'' being one of the milder ones. Others said the column belonged on an editorial page.
Of course, readers are entitled to disagree. But keep in mind that the section's name is indeed Commentary, and that's what the column was.
Candid camera. A Norfolk woman wanted to know why we always run an unflattering photo of that ``good-looking'' Sen. John Warner. She was referring to a tiny photo of the Virginia Republican on Wednesday's front page.
And while we're at it, she said, can't we get take off TV writer Larry Bonko's hat? And change columnist Guy Friddell's chin-on-hand ``silly pose''?
Probably not. Other readers have tried. . .
Guantanamo memories. This week's two-day Daily Break account of Navy families being evacuated from Guantanamo were too close to home for one woman who had gone through it. But she also felt the account, by an officer's wife, did not reflect her own experience as an enlisted wife.
``My husband didn't get to say goodbye to the kids. They pulled us one way, the husbands another. We didn't even get to look back at our spouses.
``She makes it sound like it was oh, so heartfelt, but it wasn't. . . It was a living hell.''
No gracias. And, finally, we flunked Spanish 101 again. A May 7 story on Mexican food referred to carna al la Mexicana instead of carne and de nado instead of de nada.
Several readers did not say gracias. by CNB