After Deadline
Some aspects of media's attack coverage draw fire
By John Simonds
Advertiser Reader Representative
A newspaper gathers the world's mixed signals and reports them in ways that inform and reassure many readers, while confusing and angering others.
Several readers objected to the lead story in Friday's paper, a USA Today report that said U.S. troops were in Afghanistan hunting Osama bin Laden. They said the report was irresponsible and could endanger soldiers because it gave away the element of surprise.
Executive Editor Jim Kelly said editors had a long discussion about how to play the story.
"We're very cautious about reporting stories that could give away strategic information, but we have to balance that with our obligation to tell people what's going on, especially in a community with such a large military population," Kelly said. "The story made the point that the troops' presence had been previously reported in Pakistani newspapers and that it would come as no surprise to bin Laden or anyone else in Afghanistan."
While readers have been generally complimentary of The Advertiser's coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath, some have questioned the tone of some columns, editorials and letters as either being unpatriotic or hawkish.
A newspaper should reflect the opinions of all, including people questioning misguided patriotism, or the propriety of flying the flag. Among freedoms the flag — and the newspaper — stand for is the right to display as few or as many flags as one wants. Some callers argue such ideas are out of place in time of war, though free expression is a big part of what wars have been about.
In recent days, some readers have taken exception to headlines that they believed were inaccurate, inflammatory or cast the United States in an unflattering light. Most recent to draw complaints was Wednesday's front-page "Poison attacks loom." It appeared above a story about the arrests of 20 people charged with fraudulently obtaining licenses to haul hazardous materials, just a day after worries about further terrorist attacks led to the grounding of crop-dusting planes. The last eight paragraphs, on A12, related to authorities' concerns about how the hazardous chemicals could be used.
While the concern reflected in the headline was valid and supported in the text, some readers accused The Advertiser of sensationalizing the story with a "scare headline." In a clarification published Thursday, editors acknowledged that the headline "overstated the imminence of the danger of further attacks."
In The American Heritage College Dictionary, "loom" has as its first meaning, "to come into view as a massive, distorted, or indistinct image." Its second is "to appear to the mind in a magnified and threatening form." Its third meaning is "to seem imminent; impend."
A caller objected to the verb "plot" in a Sept. 15 headline about President Bush and his advisers mapping strategy. The verb was used again Sept. 21 to describe Hawai'i business executives planning an economic recovery. "Plot" also has a few dictionary definitions, one of which is to "prearrange secretly or deviously." It has a sinister meaning for some who say "plan" or "map" would fit as well.
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Choosing effective responses in a time of national emergency and local economic gloom gripped the attention of The Advertiser's editorial board and its community members in this extraordinary September.
The Advertiser's third group of guest members participated in a memorable month. Sessions dealt with terrorism and tragedy, world topics linked with issues of recovery, faith and direction, meeting human needs, seeking justice, shaping military and diplomatic answers, avoiding pitfalls of the past, and coping with the impact on Hawai'i.
Marilyn McLaughlin, a retired schoolteacher who tutors dyslexic students; the Rev. Frank Chong, minister, social worker and executive director of the Waikiki Health Center; Dr. Thomas Crabtree, a Kailua physician serving at Tripler Army Medical Center; and Jennifer Dang, coordinator of The Advertiser's Newspaper in Education program, were the board's most recent guest members.
Thursday's editorial urging Hawai'i to move forward on many of the governor's economic proposals emerged as a product of discussion among members and guests at Wednesday's meeting. Visitors and board members agreed it was time for Hawai'i to shed the victim's role and stop waiting for a rescue from somewhere else. Even risking greater public debt, they reasoned, the state should invest now to meet public needs (including school renovations and teacher shortages) that were already critical before Sept. 11. Members expressed hope the state would reach beyond familiar short-term solutions toward longer-range initiatives to help Hawai'i advance from a dependency on visitor spending.
Other points raised by guest members included the need to be neighborly; to focus on sharing, including more carpooling and less hoarding; to work on upgrading the vision of state officials; to draw on the potential of faith groups to help the in a time of unusual stress.
The terror attacks and their aftermath provided the main topic for three of the Wednesdays, as members pondered how to combat terrorism without warring against Afghanistan, and noted the danger of assigning group blame for the attacks and the continued threat.
Concerns about patriotic excess, how to help the Afghan poor, the lack of Western knowledge about Islam, the spirit of unity in a national crisis, the airlines' need to improve service and safety if Congress bankrolls them (Is it time to restore regulation? Will antitrust flexibility in flight scheduling help local airlines?); how a garden has beneficial effects in a time of anxiety.
John Simonds can be reached at jsimonds@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8033.
