By Anne Harpham

"Where's the coverage?" asked a reader upset over our handling of last weekend's marches protesting the possible war with Iraq.

The reader was one of about a dozen who complained that our Jan. 19 front page should have displayed more prominently the anti-war protests in Honolulu, Washington and in other capitals worldwide. The lead story on the page was on a plan to complete long-backlogged school repairs. There also was an analysis of the dynamic between Gov. Linda Lingle and Democrats in the Legislature, a news-service story on the world crises facing the Bush administration and, in the most prominent position on the page, a feature on rare seashells collected on O'ahu beaches and the race to sell them.

A news-service photo from the Washington peace march was at the bottom of the page, with a reference to the stories on Page A6 summarizing the various anti-war events, including the one in Honolulu.

Most of the readers who complained were troubled by the large display given to a relatively light feature about seashells while the protests were represented only by a small photo at the bottom of the page. Several pointed out that the various events represented the largest anti-war marches since Vietnam. One bluntly called the front page a "joke."

National surveys clearly show the nation is divided on the question of war, and the circumstances under which citizens believe an attack on Iraq would be justified. These are troubling, uncertain times, and readers are looking closely to newspaper and other news media for not only the latest information, but analysis and thoughtful commentary on all sides of the issue.

As I saw last week, readers are increasingly impatient if they believe we are leaning toward one side in the debate. This includes not only news stories and photographs but editorials, letters, cartoons and commentary pieces on our opinion pages.

Every day, editors make choices about how we report on the day's events in the U.S.-Iraq crisis. We know that however carefully we think through our decisions on news play, there will be readers who disagree with us, whether on what we cover (or don't cover) or what they perceive as a tone or bias in headlines or choice of letters or columns.

There is no way that on any given day there can be a perfect balance on all fronts of the debate. News doesn't happen that way, nor do we necessarily receive an equal number of letters or opinion pieces on all sides.

The standard we set for ourselves is that over a period of weeks, our coverage overall is balanced, fair, thoughtful and instructive.

So: Did we blow it on the anti-war protest?

News editor Brad Lendon, who made the decision about where to play the stories, said half of Page A6 was devoted to the protests and included five photographs (including a local one), two stories and summarized reports on protests worldwide. Lendon said the Chicago Tribune story we played on Page One about the confluence of foreign policy crises facing the Bush administration was more significant than the news generated by the protests.

But was the way the news was presented on the page appropriate? Editors weren't trying to disparage the anti-war march by putting the photo at the bottom of the page. But some readers didn't see it that way.

Judged through the perspective of just one front page, no one can argue that a story on rare seashells outweighs public concern over the growing U.S.-Iraq crisis. Should the Iraq package, including the photo on the march, have been played so its headlines were in the top half of the page? I believe so. While the seashell story was an interesting read with an eye-catching layout, I could see how some readers might see it as frivolous, given the prospect of war.

Was our story on the Washington march fair? One reader noted differences between the Washington Post story we published and the story on the Post's Web site. Certain changes leapt out at him. One was the difference in the crowd count. The Post cited three different estimates — 100,000, 200,000 and 500,000. We used 100,000, a number attributed to police and one that reflected a consensus of the news services that covered the event, Lendon said.

This reader also noted that we edited out a phrase saying the marchers were from all walks of life. The phrase was cut for space, but it probably should have been left in because it reflected the diversity of the marchers.

Was our story on the local march adequate? About 1,000 people turned out, roughly the same number that turned out five days earlier at 'Iolani Palace for a rally that was part of the "Living Nation" observance marking the 110th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. The stories received roughly the same coverage.

On the editorial pages, the same test for balance applies to letters and opinion columns. Editor Saundra Keyes said the paper seeks out divergent views in letters and columns. As in the news pages, it is unrealistic to expect the same space will be allocated to each side every day. But over time, readers should be able to look at The Advertiser and say that the views of each side are consistently represented, Keyes said.

That test for coverage won't please all readers. But news, and readers' reaction to it, doesn't flow in a predictable tide. Newspapers provide a snapshot of the day's events. Over time, news coverage and opinion should meet a test of balance and represent diverse viewpoints.

Senior editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative. Reach her at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8033.