After Deadline
Verbal skirmishes over words, images preview real war
By John Simonds
Advertiser Reader Representative
While the nation mobilizes for a global response to terrorism, verbal skirmishing over words and images already is well under way.
A stranded writer for a small newspaper in Oregon and Washington found Waikiki's display of national support disappointing and wrote about it in her Sunday column back home. Posted on her newspaper's Web site, it drew the wrath of readers from Hawai'i, prompting an apology by the writer and her editor to a much larger audience than they probably expected.
A caller questioned the taste and appropriateness of the Associated Press photo of a cross image in the wreckage of the World Trade Center on the front page of Thursday's Advertiser. The caller noted that people of faiths other than Christianity had also died and that the caption seemed to reinforce a sectarian view. (The caption: "Like a sentinel over the New York ruins, and a reminder of resilency of human spirit that arose from abject devastation, an illuminated cross has been crafted from structural debris of what was once the World Trade Center.")
Another caller noted a devil face image, this one visible in building wreckage in an A4 photo in Sunday's Advertiser. Earlier readers spotted what appeared to be satanic faces in photos of fire and smoke.
In both cases, evidence of a message may have been stronger in the eyes of beholders. The Advertiser has made a concerted effort to include the responses of all faiths to the events of Sept. 11.
A Monday caller said football spectators complaining about security at Aloha Stadium did not deserve Page 1 publicity, that providing that kind of attention was "in poor taste," and that fans should be prepared to sacrifice in these times.
Reuters, the international news service, told staffers to avoid using the word "terrorist" to describe anyone who might be sought or implicated in the Sept. 11 events. Reuters is avoiding the label where possible, continuing its history of neutrality in covering global conflicts.
The New York Times, which adheres to traditional courtesy titles for people named in its articles, calls Osama bin Laden "Mr. Bin Laden" in second reference, consistent with Times style, but no doubt over-respectful to many. Other news services follow AP style of last names without courtesy titles.
Words increasing in usage include al-Qaida, ("the base"), the loosely knit world organization by which terrorists are said to be directed. Some readers have noted different spellings of this and other foreign words, a result of variations among news services to which The Advertiser subscribes. The Quran is AP style for the Koran, the Muslim scripture and prayer book. Taliban describes the ruling fundamentalist organization in Afghanistan. People from that nation are Afghans; an Afghani is a unit of currency.
Callers have spotted errors in commercial displays of American flags. A fast-food store in Waipahu had flags with only 11 stripes, one reader said. Another noted a toy company's ad in which the flags had three short red stripes instead of four. Flag etiquette experts also have been flying their advice at full staff in editorial page letters.
A letter in Thursday's paper chided people for buying American flags which, the letter-writer said, had been made in China by low-paid workers, a reawakening of global economy criticism that had been mostly silent in recent weeks.
Topic A (as in America, anti-terrorism and Afghanistan) remains far ahead of whatever's next on the public agenda, but other issues are emerging, including concerns about dengue fever and the mosquitoes that spread it, Hawai'i's economy and crimes among children.
Signs the world may be returning to normal include readers targeting shortcomings that remain important in a pre-Sept. 11 kind of way.
Why was a review of "The Odd Couple" limited to the Internet only? A mix-up between section editors resulted in the review being omitted from last weekend's Advertisers. The Neil Simon play, starring Joe Moore and Pat Sajak, got a favorable review. The Advertiser's handling of it did not.
A Wednesday feature story about a much-awaited episode of "West Wing," where art tries to keep pace with life, said the program would be broadcast the following night, an error caused by a change in plans that originally called for the story to run Tuesday. The Advertiser published corrective notes in its Wednesday afternoon and Thursday editions.
John Simonds can be reached at jsimonds@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8033.
