THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701250016
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: REPORT TO READERS
SOURCE: Lynn Feigenbaum
LENGTH: 95 lines
It's reader question-and-answer time.
In an article earlier this month about the new city manager of Virginia Beach, you said he will lead ``the state's largest city.'' Shouldn't that be the state's ``largest resort city''? Suffolk is bigger.
Indeed, Suffolk (at 430 square miles) is larger areawise than Virginia Beach (258 square miles). But with 420,200 residents, the Beach way out-populates Suffolk and its 55,600 residents.
Regional news editor Tom Warhover thinks it would have been more accurate to write ``most populous city in the state.''
But, he notes, that distinction isn't made when referring to New York City as the largest city in the nation; the Big Apple isn't that big, but it has some 7.3 million residents.
Here's a curiosity: New York City, with an area of 365 square miles, is ``smaller'' than our own Suffolk!
Last weekend, a MetroNews story began, ``The school district felt, well, dissed when. . . '' Don't you agree it's unprofessional to use rap or slang in the newspaper?
No, I don't. If every sentence were written in street talk, that would be different. But language is an ever-changing medium. In this case, the writer livened up a routine story with a bit of word-sound play - the ``district'' felt ``dissed.''
Education writer Vanee Vines, who wrote the story, says she doesn't find the occasional use of slang unprofessional. And, she adds, she is hardly the first reporter to use ``dissed.'' Newswoman Cokie Roberts uttered it on national TV a few years ago, said Vines.
I fear that the recent flap over Ebonics has made us forget how spoken English, with its heritage from other cultures, can enrich and expand our written language. Or just plain jazz it up.
The weekly Military News section is a misnomer. Why don't you rename it ``Navy News'' or, better yet, include more news from the other military services?
This is a complaint we hear now and then. After all, there are a good number of people in the area associated with the Army, Marines and Coast Guard.
``I'd say our coverage is commensurate with the military breakdown in the area,'' responds military editor Earl Swift, ``but we're always looking for stuff to write about from the non-Navy services.''
In fact, Swift said he invites story ideas from other service branches. You can write him c/o The Virginian-Pilot, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, VA 23510 or e-mail him at swift(AT)infi.net - or leave your story tip on my answering machine.
Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune is my favorite columnist. Why don't you run his columns anymore?
``There other people whose columns we'd rather run,'' said editorial page editor Keith Monroe, who picks the columns for the op-ed (Perspectives) page. ``We thought the quality of his work has declined and didn't justify the high price of his column.''
Monroe said Royko is typical of the tough-talking, old-fashion, big-city columnists of yore. That's part of his appeal and also part of the problem.
Even though he's syndicated, Royko works for the Chicago Trib. Two out of three of his columns relate to Chicago happenings, said Monroe, and are not of interest to local readers.
On the wrong trak. Last Monday, President Clinton took the oath of office and promised, among other things, to ``preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.'' Unfortunately, in last Sunday's paper, the complete oath had ``serve'' instead of ``preserve.''
Several readers noticed and let us know. It's what I expect. Since becoming public editor, I've learned that we can't get away with these lapses. Recently, our watchdogs noticed that:
Amtrak was misspelled in the MetroNews headline, ``15 injured after Amtrack train hits tractor-trailer in Culpeper.'' (How could we get that wrong and Culpeper right?)
Edgar Allan Poe was prematurely laid to rest in a wire story. It said, ``Poe, who was buried after he was found wandering deliriously through the streets of Baltimore, is best-known for his bleak tales of horror. . . ''
One caller quipped: ``I'm pretty sure he died before he was buried. It makes the statement seem like one of his stories itself.''
The Italian city of Siena was misspelled, as Sienna, in a headline and column in the Flavor section.
An op-ed headline said, ``Shame ought to play a larger roll in American politics.'' A reader e-mailed: ``Shame, shame. . . . You did mean `role,' right?'' Right.
A columnist misused ``kudos'' as a plural noun - the word is singular, from the Greek kydos, meaning glory and fame. That columnist was me. And the error was in last Sunday's Report to Readers.
I mention these slipups because you won't find them in our A2 corrections. But we do hang our heads in shame. And, in fact, appreciate your pointing out when we stray.
Now, if we only get the time right for the Sunday-morning news shows. . . . MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to
lynn(AT)infi.net