Explain Yourself ...

To quote or not?

       This morning's editorial board meeting included exchanges of opinion regarding the Richland High School controversy sparked by a student's reaction to how a lesson plan approached teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The board felt an editorial was fully justified.

     One question that arose had to do with whether to include an example of how Mark Twain used the n-word in the book. One view noted that the Star-Telegram quoted radio shock jock Don Imus' remarks that caused such national outrage when he referred to the Rutgers University womens basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." In quoting Imus, the paper helped readers understand what had caused such anger. Would there be such benefit in quoting Twain?

     J.R. Labbe, deputy editorial page editor, brought key perspective into considering that question. Because the n-word is so highly inflammatory and derogatory, she said, there would be readers who would be so shocked and outraged at the sight of that word, even in a direct quote from Twain's book, that they wouldn't be able to focus on the point of the editorial, and our efforts would be lost. Better to place a priority on sharing some dialogue with readers than risk losing their attention. Everyone agreed.

     Some other differences were involved in the Imus situation. Coverage had put his remarks all over the Web, on the air and in some newspapers. They were public. As disgusting as they were, they did not include use of the n-word. Twain's Huck Finn is all over the Web as well, and in bookstores and libraries everywhere. It's easy to get a copy. The n-word has plenty of exposure without our help.

     -- David House

Where's that story?

     There's controversy at Richland High School in the Birdville ISD over teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and how to approach Mark Twain's extensive use of the n-word, but today's coverage of the matter didn't make it into the Fort Worth edition.

     Readers of the Northeast Tarrant edition, responsible for coverage of BISD, and the Arlington edition got the story, which is developing into a significant issue as it has elsewhere locally and in the U.S. ever since African-Americans began challenging the classic in American literature back in the 1950s.

     Understanding why today's story was left out in Fort Worth involves a bit of an explanation of how the three editions operate with local coverage.

     Each edition has its own city desk that develops local coverage that's tailored for its area. Some of that coverage is shared with and runs in all editions, but much of it is edition-specific, meaning, for instance, that some local news in Northeast Tarrant is not published in the Arlington or Fort Worth editions.

      With that in mind, add another factor: Available space. That's different in each edition, too, because each edition has its own advertising department selling edition-specific advertising that in turn creates different ad stacks in each local section. Space varies in each edition's local section.

     Here's one last factor: Each city desk develops its own daily and Sunday news budget and strives to load its local section (Section B) with its local news. Often, content originating with one edition will run in all editions. And if there's space for more local news from other editions, it's given to that content.

     Fort Worth's edition did not carry the Huck Finn story because editors felt that Fort Worth had higher-priority content to get in, including a backlog of important election-related coverage. However, Fort Worth editors felt today that they should have held one of the election stories to make room for the Huck Finn story. Would've been a good call. The issue is an old one -- one of the classics in civil rights circles -- and has been fought repeatedly over the years, but it continues to surface and to command public attention, which in turn justifies coverage. 

     -- David House

       

Comments on editorials

I’ve been a user of the Internet since the very early 1990s, and the ’net has become only a tool for me – not a source of entertainment or every amusement. But I’m not a Luddite

I love technology and am what some call an “early adapter.” I had the first good video camera among my circle of friends. And I used to videotape weddings for the daughters and sons of friends as a wedding gift for them. Shame that I never thought it could turn into a business or I’d be writing this from Key West. If at all.

But as with many things, there are also downsides to the Internet, or, more specifically, to the way people use it.

It is a gloriously undisciplined and irreverent place and the people who live there are proudly iconoclastic and independent.

And that can be a problem.

Take letters to the editor. For a letter in response to a column, editorial or another letter to get into the printed newspaper, there is a very careful process followed. (And even then, we still get scammed from time-to-time.) But we’re rigid about demanding the name of the writer, the city or residence and a way we can verify the validity of the letter.

Letters that are in bad taste or make no sense or contain known fact error simply are not published. And those that survive the process carry the name of the writer so the readers know whose opinion they are reading.

But consider the Internet.

A famous cartoon in the early ’90s – I think it was in The New Yorker – showed two mutts at a computer. One is saying to the other something like: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

Net citizens will argue that they are known. cutnshoot@somewhere.com is their Internet name. But you can’t track down that person except with some pretty sophisticated techniques that most of us don’t know. So we don’t know whether cutnshoot is male, female, local, knowledgeable or what. Or if he\she is a dog.

And when no one knows who you are, it’s easier to be more aggressive than is sometimes acceptable in polite company.

All of which brings me to readers’ comments on editorials.

We allow comments on most editorials posted online – we’re slowly learning which ones need to be excepted. But we have no way of controlling the comments before they are posted although we can pull them down – which creates even more controversy from people who think they have the right to say whatever they want about whoever they want whenever they want. They do have that right – they just don’t have it unfettered when the newspaper is involved.

Fort Worth City Councilman Chuck Silcox made some, shall we say, intemperate remarks about one of the candidates recently in the District 9 council race, raising a gay-straight issue. We wrote an editorial about that, suggesting that perhaps he would have been wiser to keep his remarks to himself.

And the wiseguys went to work on the postings. Eventually, they became so extreme that we pulled the comment box and all the comments – both reasonable and unreasonable – off the editorial. It was not censorship. It was a matter of taste.

It’s a shame because the exchange of opinions is important. But there are some things that we will simply not permit to happen in space that is our responsibility, regardless of whether that space is on paper or electrons.

-- Paul Harral, Editor of the Editorial Page

Relevance

The Star-Telegram's coverage of the District 9 city council race in Fort Worth was criticized this week. City Council member Chuck Silcox objected because our reporters had not mentioned that one of the candidates is gay. In reality, we haven't discussed the sexual orientation of any of the candidates.

It's not relevant to the race.

If there had been heated debates about gay rights, same sex marriage, or issues such as those, then the candidate's sexual orientation most likely would have come up. But in this race the candidates are talking about things like gas leases and property taxes. Relevance and context are two of the key things we look for when putting together stories. We have too, because there's a lot of information out there and a limited amount of newshole.

Jean Marie Brown

Where's Scotland?

      A Bedford reader suspects the S-T's a bit challenged regarding geography.

     "The map included in the 'Spotlight on Britain' section in the Friday edition was lacking one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

     Scotland was not included, but England, Wales and Northern Ireland were labeled. All four countries comprise "the United Kingdom" whereas "Great Britain" is made up of England, Scotland and Wales.

     Good catch by the reader. Helpful lesson for the S-T.

     -- David House

Dealing with sad news ...

"Why did you have to report that? Don't you realize that it will hurt the family?"

We've fielded these questions, or variations on them, after a handful of stories. Most recently, we've been criticized for reporting that alcohol was a factor in some accidental deaths. We've been accused of adding to the tragedies by reporting the truth.

First, let me assure you that our reporters and editors are humans. They, too, are touched by the tragedies we cover. But we try to learn coping techniques so we can do our jobs with a bigger goal in mind: pursuing the truth.

For those who want us to shield a family or friends by delaying or denying the truth, it may be helpful to understand our role as a news organization. Our job is to report the news and reflect life in North Texas. That includes the good and the bad. Readers rely on us for that. They use us to learn about their neighbors and neighborhoods. They are warned of risks. The are heartened by successes, and they grieve with tragedies. Some step up to help when they see pain or problems. Some are relying upon us to keep a watchful eye on how their tax dollars are spent.

We could ignore news that upsets some people. But that would present a distorted picture of the world. And if someone doesn't point out the problems, how will they get fixed? What upsets some folks is a call to action for others. Our stories can't bring people back or un-crash crashes. But perhaps they can inspire better behavior in others.

We take our responsibility seriously and we try to handle it with sensitivity.

-- Rex Seline

Mark Twain perspective

     Watauga City Councilman Jerry Adams added some high-grade thought to the ombud column today, sharing a quote from Mark Twain.

     In an e-mail, Adams wrote: "The summary of your column ... 'How words can count,' postulating that when headlines are inaccurate, they amplify error seems especially true. Thus, great care ought to be used in the selection of words for headlines. As Mark Twain said, "[t]he difference between the almost right word and the right word is a large matter; it is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."

     Great quote from an 1888 letter of Twain's that underscores the importance of precision writing. I like this one, too:

     "A powerful agent is the right word: it lights the reader's way and makes it plain; a close approximation to it will answer, and much traveling is done in a well-enough fashion by its help, but we do not welcome it and applaud it and rejoice in it as we do when the right one blazes out on us."

     -- David House

Want a sample ballot?

Tarrant County has a sample ballot online. Click here.

-- David House

In defense of apostrophes

     One of our readers complains that the Star-Telegram needs to stop the abuse of apostrophes in our ads. He explains: “Look, pluralizing usually means to just add an s or es, not ’s, which is possessive, not plural, not now, not ever, unless someone changed English and didn’t tell me. The ... ads make me crazy. They abuse ’s over and over. Can’t someone put a stop to it?”

     Those ads arrive on CDs, and for various reasons corrections aren't demanded as they were back in the day when proofreaders were on board. Proofreaders per se are unfortunately an extinct group, which is an issue for another time.

     The reader's complaint was mentioned in today's Onotes and brought a tip from TV writer Robert Philpot about a Web site in England for The Apostrophe Protection Society founded in 2001 by one John Richards. For those who enjoy grammar and related issues, the society's site is a must to visit. Check out the photographed documentation of apostrophe abuse by twits who should be driven from the realm.

     -- David House

Gandhi's news agenda

     Mahatma Gandhi's quotes reflect many aspects of his genius, but one quote in particular fascinates me, because it sketches so well, in broad but brilliant strokes, the conditions in life that create such compelling justification for journalism and a free press:

     "The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice."

      What do we cover if not those problems?

     -- David House