THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512160006
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
There's a big difference between the Akula- and Typhoon-class submarines.
Both are nuclear-powered Russian subs. But the Akula is a sleek, streamlined attack machine while the ballistic-missile-toting Typhoon is a bulky monster - in fact, it's the world's largest sub.
You've probably seen the Typhoon; it was the enemy sub in the movie ``Hunt for Red October.''
You also saw it on The Pilot's front page last weekend, illustrating a story on Russian subs patrolling off the U.S. coast. The four-column color photo ran above the fold Saturday, big as life, so that no military person in town could miss it.
Many of them, nearly four dozen, called in to let us know it was not an Akula-class sub, as the caption said.
``I have been a loyal reader of The Virginian-Pilot through three tours of USN duty here in the Hampton Roads area, dating back to 1988,'' e-mailed Dan Hooper of Virginia Beach. ``I have overlooked many inaccuracies on coverage of the military in your newspaper. . . .''
But Hooper and others couldn't overlook the sub photo.
``You blew it,'' said Richard Parks, a first-class submariner. ``You're in a Navy town. You ought to get your Navy stuff right.''
We should, especially since we're not only surrounded by military expertise but the newspaper library is filled with illustrated reference books like ``The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'' and ``Jane's Fighting Ships.''
Aside from reading Patrick O'Brian novels, I have no nautical background. Even so, it only took a quick glance for me to see that our A1 photo made an unlikely Akula - the bulbous shape didn't look anything like the sleek lines in the ``Jane's'' photo.
There were other giveaways, as everyone from sonar techs to intelligence officers pointed out: The relative size of the Typhoon compared to an adjacent tugboat, the vertical hatch, the height of the sail or conning tower, even the sub's placement in the water.
The Typhoon sits high so that, when its nose and sail punch through the ice, it can shoot off ballistic missiles, said David Norton, a Navy sonar technician for 10 years.
You could blame the mistake on the wire service - we ordered up an Akula photo, they sent the Typhoon.
But we erred in taking their word for it. As Parks said, we ought to get our Navy stuff right.
SYNDROMES GALORE. The newspaper ought to get other stuff right, too, but we seem to be having a hard time of it lately.
Dropped Type Syndrome - my name for losing lines or chunks of stories - struck at least twice this week. It happened with the submarine story and, a day earlier, with the Trigon story in the BusinessNews section.
You know there's a chronic problem when it gets a name, so I'll coin another: Wrong Caption Syndrome. That's when the photo and caption have nothing to do with each other.
One such occurence, on Wednesday, was reported by a half-dozen readers.
The photo showed Haitian presidential candidate Leon Jeune, along with an investigator, standing in front of a shattered glass door in Jeune's home. The caption said, ``Former Haitian Premier Rene Preva. . . dances with a supporter. . . ''
Readers got a big yuk out of that one, which is a shame. We run Today's Chuckle for laughs, not serious stories about violence in Haiti.
And then, of course, there's Wrong Headline Syndrome. That's self-explanatory, especially to basketball fans who read Wednesday's NBA roundup.
The headline said, ``Grizzlies say `Big Country' is growing in NBA stature.'' However, there was nothing about the Grizzlies. Un-bear-able. . .
DOWN AT THE ``HEALS.'' When you're hot you're hot; when you're not - well, everything seems to go wrong.
The mortgage-rate charts in Monday's Business Weekly were compressed and unreadable; they had to be reprinted the next day.
On Tuesday, a bridge hand had a wrong move and the crossword puzzle a bad clue. The clue was ``famous New Orleans street,'' the answer ``Beale.'' But, as one reader pointed out, Beale Street is in Memphis.
The way Monday's front page was laid out, it looked like the new National Rifle Association president was aiming her weapon at a sick 10-year-old in an adjoining story.
A wire story last Sunday about the federal budget impasse said the administration ``appeared to be digging in its heals to gain politically from the dispute.''
An ad in Real Estate Weekly said:
``NOTICE: THE ADS IN THESE PUBLICATIONS ARE PLACED BY PROSSIONALS.''
There's a message here, somewhere. It's time for us to get more professional! MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to
lynn(AT)infi.net by CNB