DATE: Sunday, July 20, 1997                 TAG: 9707190001

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM

                                            LENGTH:  102 lines

REPORT TO READERS DAILY BREAK STORY DRAWS AN X RATING

Is The Daily Break a sophisticated, trendy outlet for adults? Or a section directed at families and children?

That tug-of-war has existed for as long as I can remember - back in 1980, when I first came to work for The Break, and in the early '90s, when I was features editor.

There's always been the temptation to loosen the restraints - to make way for more sophisticated fare, whether it's a review of a risque movie or insight into teen sexuality.

Invariably, some readers take us to task when the section crosses too far over the border. Like the time I ran a multipage photo-feature on transsexuals. Readers gave us a scorching that day.

And with justification. Because right there in The Daily Break are ``Luann'' and ``Family Circus'' and ``Garfield'' and other child-oriented comics.

Plus, there are reviews of the latest action and animated movies, lists of fun activities and, like this week, stories about a Suffolk birthday party for young girls and where to ``bop over to the beach'' and a religious fashion trend, a bracelet with a Christian message.

Contrast those wholesome offerings with Monday's Daily Break-front story, ``For some, three - or more - may be the right combination.'' We're not talking lottery numbers here. The header was ``Sexual relationships,'' and the color photo showed a very pleased woman, author of a new book on menages a trois, quatre et cinq.

Lest there be any ambiguity, a pullout said: ``A menage may be heterosexual, homosexual or a mix of both.''

Kathy Owens, a parent and Suffolk elementary school teacher, couldn't understand why a newspaper that encourages children to read and promotes educational programs would print such an article, particularly in a section that children like to read.

She said her 8-year-old combs the Sports section daily and her 5-year-old likes ``Family Circus'' and other comics, but she doesn't want them seeing stories like this. It's bad enough, she said, that they're exposed prematurely to this sort of fare on radio and TV.

More than a dozen other callers also stewed over the story, most of them parents or grandparents.

``If you guys want to run a paper that's more like the National Enquirer, then that's probably appropriate,'' said the father of a 9-year-old. ``If the paper's sitting out, I encourage her to read it to get a better idea of current events and world news.'' But not, he made it clear, about sexual combos.

Cindy Hendrix, a Virginia Beach mother, also was ``strongly opposed to the garbage'' on the Daily Break front. Making it worse, she noted, was that it ran right next to a TV column featuring a Cox High grad who made good as a TV co-anchor.

Think about young readers who slide from that story to the one about boy meets girl meets girl meets boy, etc. And, in fact, one that continued on to another half page inside the section.

And it was a wire story - we didn't have to run it, Hendrix added.

Features editor Eric Sundquist defended the selection but was not pleased with its presentation or length.

``The headline, `For some, three - or more - may be right combination,' seemed to endorse the practice,'' he said. ``That wasn't the intent.''

But, he added, ``offbeat domestic arrangements deserve occasional coverage, as curiosities if nothing else.'' He noted that multiple-partner relationships were the subject of a recent ``Seinfeld'' episode.

Perhaps, but I imagine there are parents out there who don't allow their children to watch ``Seinfeld.'' Besides, newspapers aren't equipped with a V-chip.

Pilot editor Kay Tucker Addis was angry that the story ran. ``It was offensive and an inappropriate choice,'' said Addis. ``It's not the kind of story we want in The Virginian-Pilot.''

As I see it, The Daily Break is not a kiddie section. It should have adult-interest articles and a sharp edge, not just pablum prose. But parents should not have to hide the section from their children.

On Monday, the Pilot turned parents into censors. That's not a reader service. This story was not the ``right combination'' for our newspaper.

SCHOOL STORY DEGRADING. Speaking of censorship: A Chesapeake mom said she hid Wednesday's newspaper from her two children.

The reason: The banner A1 story, ``Beach test scores reveal racial gap,'' noting that scores for black students fell well below the national average.

Wrichidelle Blake-Bell said she's African American and the mother of two high-achieving students in Great Bridge. The way the story was written, she said, there's no credit to children like hers who get top grades.

``This article is very insulting to me, to my children and my family,'' said Blake-Bell. ``It should have been written with more sensitivity. Articles like this tarnish the image of African Americans.''

Another reader felt the story was racially divisive. But reporter Aleta Payne had no apologies, nor do I think she should have.

``I'm not going to lie and paint a pretty picture so that life looks rosy when it's not,'' said Payne, who covers Beach schools. ``Pretending that black kids are doing well when they aren't ultimately hurts them. And that's NOT good for race relations.''

TUNED IN, TURNED OFF. Last but not least, there were a couple of dozen complaints about the new, darker typeface in last weekend's TV green sheet listings. Too hard to read, said callers.

Your voices were heard and changes should already have been made in yesterday's edition.

But keep in mind all the changes are temporary. Major revisions are planned this fall for the green sheet. MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475 or e-mail

lynn(AT)pilotonline.com

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