DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709120017

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM

                                            LENGTH:   94 lines

REPORT TO READERS LIGHT UP OR LIGHTEN UP? CIGAR TURNS OFF READERS

I could smell the trouble coming, as clearly as smoke wafting from a stogie.

It began with those promotions last weekend for the Daily Break's fall fashion section. The model was sporting a cigar. A nasty, smelly SEE-gar, mind you.

Same model, same photo, surfaced in the fashion section itself on Wednesday. And the calls came in - more than a dozen.

Beautiful section, lovely clothes. But why, asked readers, did we have to blemish it with a cigar? Didn't we learn our lesson with Buzz?

If you're not a fan, Buzz is the little feller with the 'tude who lightens up The Pilot's sports pages. He's the logo for an irreverent column about sports personalities and happenings. He also, in his first manifestation, sported a cigar.

Readers complained, and complained. What kind of example were we setting for kids? Buzz went cold turkey and quit smoking.

And now, there's that nasty cigar again. Here's what readers said:

``Showing a model smoking a cigar is inappropriate because we're trying to get our children to stop smoking and it looks like The Pilot is promoting smoking.''

``This is from the same newspaper that is beating up on the tobacco industry and talking about the dangers of tobacco. . . . A little bit of hyprocrisy there?''

``What kind of role model is this for young ladies?''

Maybe two weeks of suffering through Diana coverage has addled my brain, but somehow I had trouble summoning up the proper degree of righteous indignation. Does everything in a newspaper have to be politically correct or a role model? Should the media reflect trends or deflect them?

Buzz bothered me. Day after day, exposure to his cigar wasn't the right message. Joe Camel strutting on bulletin boards, in magazines - that bothered me even more. But a single fashion shot, one of more than a dozen? Should we also criticize the photo showing a model drinking coffee, when everyone knows that caffeine isn't good for you? Or the one touting fur coats, in this age of animal rights? (Actually, we did get complaints from PETA.)

Compare the cigar pose to the July 21 cover story on Newsweek, ``Cigars are Cool? Why America Got Hooked on a Stinky Trend.'' The magazine cover model looked grossed out by the cigar in her hand, and the story contained the requisite health sidebar. But the article was a veritable how-to on ``blowing smoke.''

So is one photo of a cigar-totin' model too much? As you can see, I was ready to shrug it off. Then I got a call from Linda Hart of Norfolk.

Hart is a caregiver for her mother, who has emphysema. And she really objected to the ``tough and tender'' image of a cigar smoker.

``This is right in line with the Marlboro Man - so tough, so strong,'' she said; but not tough enough to protect the lungs from emphysema and other tobacco-related illnesses.

I guess we can't forget that, either.

BLAST FROM THE PAST. ``Beyer blasts Gilmore's environmental record,'' was a front-page headline on Wednesday. Gubernatorial candidate Donald Beyer had spoken in Chesapeake, and his proposals were outlined with the story.

If you wanted to read about the GOP candidate's proposals for breast-cancer care, you had to turn to an inside page.

Several readers questioned the play. ``Beyer speaks, Page 1 news,'' said Michael Ludwig of Virginia Beach. ``Same day, Gilmore speaks, Page B4 news.'' Chalk it up, he added, to The Pilot's liberal Democratic agenda.

Managing editor Dennis Hartig wasn't happy either. He felt the A1 story ``fell into some old bad habits.''

One bad habit: using the ``blast'' verb in the headline and lead. ``It's not news that candidates attack each other,'' said Hartig. ``People are looking for information they can use to make choices.''

Gilmore's environmental platform should have been side by side with Beyer's, said Hartig.

He's right. And perhaps the breast-surgery care could have been out there as well.

EQUAL TIME FOR ``THE MOTHER''? When Mother Teresa died on Sept. 5, journalists everywhere were faced with an instant dilemma:

Would the saintly nun be overshadowed by the avalanche of Princess Diana coverage? The answer was yes and no, according to readers.

The Pilot's front page last Saturday, Sept. 6, was a beautiful tribute to Mother Teresa. Headlined ``A Lesson in Love,'' it showed the nun cradling a baby and took up more than half the front page.

Phyllis O'Quinn of Norfolk thanked us for the tribute. With all the attention being given to Princess Diana, she said, ``I was afraid Mother Teresa's death was not going to receive the notice this wonderful woman deserved.''

But Diana still got the lion's share of attention. On Sunday, her funeral dominated the front page, as well as an eight-page commemorative section.

The timing of the two deaths made comparisons inevitable. But the impact of Diana's death was a phenomenon, and there's no question that the world wanted to read about the princess.

As far as I can see, there's no end in sight. MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475 or send e-mail to

lynn(AT)pilotonline.com

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