DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705090005

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM

                                            LENGTH:   92 lines

REPORT TO READERS CONTROVERSY EVOLVES - OR DID WE CREATE IT?

The evolution vs. creationism debate has, I hope, died down by now. That's the mini-uproar that ensued after a Chesapeake parent who favors the teaching of creationism got concessions from the School Board.

Most of the many calls and letters we got focused on the subject itself, but here's what some readers had to say about The Pilot's coverage - along with my own off-the-cuff response:

Your INFOLINE survey, asking for reader views on the teaching of creationism, was great. But why did you print mostly pro-evolution comments when the majority of respondents favored teaching creationism? (Most of the responses were in favor of teaching creationism, though not in the same proportion as the 1,218-340 outcome of the call-in.)

The newspaper is polarizing the community by pitting science vs. religion, evolution vs. creationism, as opposite views. (Most people would find some dichotomy in these views. . . .)

Interview more mainstream scientists - they'll tell you that there isn't any debate within the scientific community on evolution vs. creationism. (See the next comment.)

Your editorial favoring evolution was one-sided. Let the public know how many reputable scientists believe in creationism. (Editorials are usually one-sided.)

Interview more creationists - and make it clear that there are many different theories. To lump them all together is a common journalistic mistake. (Isn't it important to get the basic issues out there first?)

Your editorial favoring evolution was brilliant - outstanding and well-researched. (Guess we know which side he's on!)

Between creationism in Chesapeake and elected school boards in Virginia Beach, it's going to be another lively year for classroom coverage.

SOME HOMORLESS ERRORS. After several years as public editor, I'm happy to say that I'm neither schitzophrenic or homorless. And I still greatly admire those purveyors of journaism who have a flare for writing headlines. But, as a matter of principal, couldn't we do a bit better with our spelling?

OK, you should have counted five (5!) errors in the paragraph above, all of which made their way into news headlines or stories in the past few weeks. A Chesapeake reader said he was really discouraged at the mistakes in the paper, and he didn't even mention any of the above.

As a former copy editor, I know how easy it is to get foggy-brained after reading umpteen stories on deadline, and writing their headlines and photo captions. I know how just the slip of the finger can miscode a story or page so that a wrong photo goes here or the type vanishes there. And I know how many errors the copy desk catches, usually without getting any credit.

But, like readers who spot the errors, I can't quite forgive ourselves for letting them get by. I know we can do better!

INDELICATE HEADLINE. ``Tell it like it is'' does not always go over big with readers. Thus, several complained last month about the headline, ``Body parts indicate pilot went down with A-10.''

Asked one woman: ``Could you have not used another word like `remains' or something other than `body parts'? That's not a good way to start a weekend over your newspaper and breakfast.''

I didn't share that squeamish reaction - probably comes from watching too many cop shows on TV. But I think the reader had a point.

JUNK FOOD NEWS. I'm not a snob about celeb news. Quite honestly, I love to read the people columns in The Daily Break and Parade magazine - they're my dessert after digesting the heavy news of the day.

But sometimes enough is enough, or too much. And so every year, researchers at Sonoma State University in California (who do a more serious study called Project Censored) rate the ``junk-food news'' of the year. That's news with no intellectual nutrients whatsoever.

How do they pick the stories? Quite simply, by surveying ombudsmen (public editors) around the country. We, in turn, base our answers on what we hear from readers and fellow staffers or read in our own newspapers.

So (brassy fanfare), here are the Top 10 Junk Food News Stories of 1996:

1. Celebrity pregnancies (Madonna, Melanie Griffith, Christie Brinkley, Rosie O'Donnell, et al.).

2. The British royals (along with O.J., they've been regulars on this list).

3. The macarena (a dance, if you've already forgotten).

4. The Kennedys' auction and wedding.

5. Dennis Rodman.

6. Lisa Marie dumps Michael Jackson. (He'll probably be back on the list next year, under celebrity fatherhood.)

7. O.J. Simpson (even though this was the third year that O.J. made this list, the Sonoma State researchers estimated that the Los Angeles Times alone used up 15,720 miles of newsprint on the O.J. story last year.

8. Ellen comes out (in TV sitcom land).

9. Primary Colors (you remember, the book by the ``anonymous'' Joe Klein, then a Newsweek columnist).

10. Dick Morris. (He's still in the news. According to a recent People column item, the former Clinton adviser is in a 12-step program for addiction to sex!)

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