Usually your hatchet jobs are restricted to the English language in your death notices and obituary columns such as the recent obituary of James Stephen Davis. Last week, however, you did a hatchet job on William Daly for events that took place over 30 years ago. Was it newsworthy, or just tabloid journalism?

Michael Nattenberg

I can understand how you feel. It may seem to some that we went out of our way to recount unpleasant news from Mr. Daly's past in his obituary.

Believe me, we gave this question careful thought. We always weigh the pain a story may cause against our obligation to inform.

The problem in this case was that we could not report the death of a former Fresno County DA without explaining how -- and why -- his term ended. In the end, we felt we had to provide at least a brief account of the circumstances.

Had we left any mention of Mr. Daly's problems out of the story, we would essentially be whitewashing an unfortunate but unavoidable set of facts. And that, we felt, would have meant breaking our trust with readers, who expect us to give them the full story, even if it is decades old. To answer your question, in short: Yes, it was newsworthy.

Thank you for your detailed reply with which I am in complete disagreement. It may have been newsworthy 30 years ago, but today it was vicious. I believe the story was filled with innuendo and character assassination, notwithstanding the possibility that it may have been true. You deem it newsworthy. I deem it rooting around in muck.

Shakespeare was right: "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interred with their bones."

If you adhere to a religion that values compassion for human folly, you would have better passed up an opportunity to do harm to a basically kind person. Is the community better or worse off for the dirt you have uncovered? Worse off, I think. Kindness always betters the community. Meanspiritedness always harms it.

Your answer was spin.

Michael Nattenberg

I fear we will have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't see it as a matter of choosing between kindness and mean-spiritedness, but rather of being honest with our readers. Thanks again for the interesting conversation. I think it will make an illuminating entry in the blog.

Answered by Jack Robinson at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

Perhaps the editor of the Local News section of the Bee can explain the article on page B2 of Friday's (May 9, 2008) edition detailing Mr. Ray Appleton's illness. Just why do 99 % of the citizens of Fresno care? How on earth can this be considered a "news" item? If in fact this is newsworthy then why were the illnesses of every other Fresno resident not also documented that day? Where has responsible journalism gone?

Dan Elwood
Fresno

You bring up a good point. The reason we wrote the item is that Appleton is a very popular radio host with thousands of listeners who probably were wondering what was going on when he seemed uncharacteristically confused Thursday morning. Then there was a period of dead air, and he was gone, with a replacement filling in for him and no explanation given. Our story should have included that information, and then it might have been more apparent why we would bother to write it. It was one of the most read items on fresnobee.com Thursday, by the way.

Answered by Betsy Lumbye at 1:08 PM | Comments (0)

This is not a criticism but only a request to see if we could get more exposure for the other University in Fresno; we hear about every good, bad, and ugly about Fresno State but nothing on Fresno Pacific University. Who do I pursue to help this University? The College, The Bee, or the Coaches of the sports and activities? The Men’s Baseball team is having an outstanding year without the bruises and dust, would it be possible to do an article on the other University in Fresno?
Thank You
Debra Coleman

Your request for coverage of Fresno Pacific sports is noted, but we live in an ever-growing sports world in Fresno. The baseball team you mention is one of several that have sprouted up in recent years and it's increasingly difficult to cover everything we'd like.

Fresno State and high school sports will continue to grab the most attention -- these are the franchises for which our readers clamor.

But we try to put the spotlight on Fresno Pacific teams when we can. Examples of this are the women's volleyball team, which traditionally makes a run at the national championship, the men's basketball team, which had a resurgence this year under a new coach, and the women's tennis team, which is a national power.

I expect we'll provide more coverage of the baseball team as its season progresses and they near the playoff stretch.

Answered by Robert Zizzo at 6:18 PM | Comments (0)

Hello. I am using my Moms email but was wondering about Scoopy. Was he really designed by Walt Disney? Thank you very much.

Sincerely, Joshua Reams

Thanks for the great question! People often ask about our mascot, Scoopy. He (and Gaby, McClatchy's radio mascot) were created by Walt Disney Studios in exchange for a $1,500 McClatchy donation to the Army Relief Fund during World War II. Scoopy and Gaby made their front-page debut at all three Bee papers (Fresno, Sacramento and Modesto) on Sept. 4, 1943. (See this image of the original Scoopy).

The pair were requested by Eleanor McClatchy, then president of McClatchy, "to lend personality and a familiar identity to all the products" of the company. (Disney lore says they were actually created by Disney staff artist Hank Porter, although they have the Disney trademark of three fingers and a thumb). Over the years, Bee staff artists added -- with Disney's approval -- Flutey (for the company's FM stations) and Teevy (for its television stations).

Your mom might remember Teevy: Each broadcast day on Channel 24 ended with a cartoon of Teevy tucking himself into bed and bidding the audience good night.

Answered by Kris Eldred at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)

On a weekend leading up to what is probably one of the most critical election days in recent history, the Bee decides instead to sink to a new tawdry low. I refer to the front page article taking up more than half the space on February 3 which in shameful yellow journalism style delves into the internal strife of the Shehady family and considers Super Tuesday nothing but a sidebar. What I also find reprehensible is the embarrassing swipe the Bee takes at a local community businessman in the centennial of his life. Why the Bee deemed it necessary to literally hang out the dirty laundry concerning Mr. Larry Shehady I find beyond contempt. Is it possible the Bee was the unwitting rube in a hatchet job of someone's vendetta or worse? This story does not concern a politician, celebrity or someone else considered in the public eye, and yet the Bee treats it as if it were about Britney Spears. Seriously, do your writers have not the creativity to find something better and more important to report on? The Bee has once again proved it is a hick newspaper, but this time with the shoddiness of a gossip tabloid.

-- Rick Flores

This raises one of the most difficult, and eternal, questions in journalism: When does an individual's story become a matter of public interest?

We don't make these decisions lightly. But we consider the story of a legal battle between the wife and sons of Larry Shehady to be a legitimate -- and important -- subject for a news story.

In part this is because Shehady is a long-time community leader. As a 100-year-old man who built a business empire, as a philanthropist, his affairs are -- for good or ill -- of interest to many readers. Anyone who has sought out success in a public arena recognizes that it carries with it a certain amount of attention that lesser mortals need not worry about.

(Further evidence of this is seen in the statistics we gather showing which stories are most popular on fresnobee.com. "Fracture in the family" had an unusually high number of hits on Sunday and remains on our top-five list a day later -- a sign of an unusually strong reader response.)

Beyond this, however, the story is the public's business because it involves a public agency spending public resources to take action in a public forum -- the courts.

As for the suggestion that we should have devoted more of the front page to Tuesday's primary, I must point out that we have had stories about the primary on the front page virtually every day for weeks -- including on Sunday. I think a fair analysis of our coverage would conclude that it has been more than thorough.

Answered by Jack Robinson at 2:03 PM | Comments (2)

On the front page of the (Nov. 28) paper you obviously tried to depict the two leaders of Israel and Palestine as angry old men. (View image) In my long period of reading a newspaper each morning I have never seen anything so discouraging. The world, led by President Bush, is trying very hard to come up with a plan to settle the issues between the two nations that could bring peace between them. Of equal importance, to bring hope to the middle east for reconciliation with the West.

Do these pictures reflect the Bee's opinion of the efforts of the United States in this matter? How many pictures of these two leaders did you review before you came with these choices? Whatever your motives, the results reminded me not to get my hopes up for any optimistic reporting of world events from your paper.

Dick Myers

The photos of the two leaders - Israel's Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas - were selected to reflect the seriousness of the issue. In my judgment, the expressions conveyed a mixture of determination and a sober assessment of the hard work ahead. The story made clear that this was a first step in restarting a process that has been difficult and filled with obstacles. A celebratory photo seemed inappropriate given the gravity of the undertaking and the hard work ahead.

Answered by Steve Provost at 5:39 PM | Comments (0)

Why are the movie reviews by high school students published on the Sunday teenager page about R rated movies? Shouldn't they conclude with, "Ask your parents to take you to this film"?

Loretta Bolin

Most of the movies reviewed in BackTalk are rated PG or PG-13. From time to time, a BackTalk writer will review an R-rated film. Since many highly acclaimed films, including many nominated for Academy Awards, are rated R, we feel ignoring these movies would be an injustice to our teen readers. It is the movie theaters' responsibility to enforce the rules regarding R ratings, and we expect that those younger than 17 are going to these movies with a parent or guardian.

It's general knowledge among the moviegoing public that an R rating means that people younger than 17 aren't allowed without a parent or guardian, so adding a parental advisory note isn't warranted.

Answered by Alison Lucian at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)