The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996              TAG: 9610250017
SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: Lynn Feigenbaum 
                                            LENGTH:   87 lines

REPORT TO READERS "WHERE'S ROSS?" AND OTHER QUESTIONS

Politics, gay marriages, ``Doonesbury'' - here's another round of questions put to us by readers over the last week.

Why isn't there more about Ross Perot and other third-party candidates in your election coverage? ``You are truly biased towards Republicans and Democrats only,'' said one caller.

I put this question to Bill Sizemore, a staff writer who handles national election issues.

``We have devoted the bulk of our limited space to coverage of the two major presidential candidates because they are the only ones with a realistic chance of winning,'' said Sizemore.

``We have given a far smaller amount of coverage to Ross Perot, because polls indicate he is drawing much less support than four years ago - around 5 percent.

``As for the other candidates, they are only drawing infinitesimal support - not even measurable in polls. We have had a few stories on them, however.''

Plus he notes that today's Voters Guide contains basic information - short profiles, major positions, etc. - on all candidates on the Virginia ballot, in addition to a few that aren't, like Ralph Nader.

Why don't you dump the comic strip ``Doonesbury'' and its pro-drug propaganda?

That question was sparked by last Sunday's strip, which showed a father and son having an ``honest conversation'' about pot. (Son: ``Did you enjoy it?'' Dad: ``Enjoy it? Tough to say. I guess it was on the enjoyable side, for a while.'') Several callers were irate, saying the strip put its stamp of approval on drugs.

But even before that strip ran, features editor Eric Sundquist had plans to move the daily version of the strip. ``Following our phone-in survey on the comics page last month,'' he said, ``we're considering a couple of changes. One is to move `Doonesbury,' with its political and sometimes adult-targeted content, to the editorial or op-ed page. Another is to discontinue `Mixed Media.' ''

Sundquist is looking at several strips to replace those two. Among the contenders: ``The Middletons,'' ``Jump Start'' and ``Tommy''.

Why are your main stories about catastrophes and mishaps? Why can't you write about good things, such as community get-togethers or children who distinguish themselves academically?

News editor Denis Finley looked through a recent week's papers to answer this question, and said he discovered display stories about: A parade honoring Korean vets, the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, a Head Start class reunion, two festivals, a company that caters to women, the return of the battleship Wisconsin, the news that Virginia Beach is the safest city of its size, a music professor bringing classical music to the African-American community and more.

But Finley concedes there's a problem if only the negative is noticed. That may be, he said, because newspapers have a responsibility to tell the community when something is amiss - problems with the school system, an outbreak of crime, a public official betraying a trust.

``There is a sociological phenomenon,'' added Finley, ``that says for every bit of bad news, readers need at least three times as much good news to balance it out. . . . So I think readers naturally remember the negative stories and tend to gloss over the positive ones.''

Why do you run stories about migrating butterflies on your MetroNews front and bury important stories, like the one warning people about a rapist?

See the previous question and reverse the logic, says editor Finley.

``Actually, It's interesting to get contradictory questions about the same paper,'' he added. ``It helps me realize how subjective the news business is, and how much perception plays into the equation.

``The butterfly story is an example of a story that we know readers like, and that we put on the MetroNews front to add balance and variety to the page. We can't be all things to all readers so the best we can do is use our best judgment, keep the news first and hope to offer the readers a smorgasbord of stories.''

Why did you run that photo of a gay ``marriage'' in last weekend's Daily Break? Don't you know that this sets a bad example for our children and it's not legal in Virginia?

The photo was a controversial item for about a dozen readers last weekend. Photographer Lawrence Jackson took that and other marriage photos for the series Rites of Passage. He says that just because some people say gay marriage is wrong doesn't mean it is.

``I figure if we're going to cover marriages, we need to represent our readers at the same time. There are gay readers out there.''

The feature also included Presbyterian, Jewish, African-American and Hispanic couples. ``There should have been a lot more,'' said Jackson, ``but there's not enough space in the paper.

MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to

lynn(AT)infi.net by CNB