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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ]]> http://www.fresnobeehive.com/asktheeditors/2007/12/why_are_those_men_frowning.html http://www.fresnobeehive.com/asktheeditors/2007/12/why_are_those_men_frowning.html Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:39:17 -0800 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.

Occasionally, a local sporting event captures the central San Joaquin Valley's imagination.

In those rare moments, Bee editors consider whether it's an event worth marking on the front page of the paper.

It's not about celebrating a victory or rubbing in a loss.

It's about recording a moment that clearly moved many people.

Most recently, The Bee had front-page coverage of Fresno State football games three times in the 2005 season: after losses in the Liberty Bowl and against USC and after a home victory over Boise State. All three stories sought to wrap up the emotion of the game and of the fans who attended.

In that spirit, The Bee conveyed the emotions that swept Bulldog Stadium in the wake of Fresno State's loss to Boise State on Oct. 26.

Cindy Shipstead

The Bee publishes only the No. 1 singles and doubles match scores for several reasons, including limits on staffing and space. The Bee Sports department is staffed each night according to how many high school sports calls we're expecting. The same applies to how much space we are allotted for each day's report. To ensure that we get a complete report, we run abbreviated results for high school sports. For instance, we take only the statistical leaders in volleyball, baseball and softball. In tennis, we abbreviate by taking the top individuals. Even football results, in a sense, are abbreviated: we don't mention lineman or defensive players, unless they score, yet they are part of the team as well.

Greg Wike

Interesting question. Thanks for asking. First, I must point out that Rick Mirigian didn't just miss a payment -- he was sued. Still, the lawsuit was routine, and normally we wouldn't have bothered reporting it ... except that we had just published on the front page Mike Osegueda's enormous profile of Mirigian, the promoter of last week's big Beyoncé concert. That story made the lawsuit temporarily more relevant than it otherwise would be.

And, to answer your question directly, yes, we might write about another business owner missing a payment, if the circumstances made it of particular interest to readers. Say, for example, that business owner also was running for office on a platform of fiscal responsibility.

By the way, a couple of readers had exactly the opposite complaint about our coverage of Mirigian: that our profile was essentially free publicity. I think it was appropriate because (a) he's a terrifically interesting character and (b) he's a rare local promoter able to play with the corporate big boys in promoting major touring shows. In addition, the story gave us a fascinating nuts-and-bolts look behind the scenes of a major concert.

But while we took pains to show Mirigian with warts and all in that profile, it would have been wrong not to give some attention to a lawsuit that very week accusing the promoter of failing to pay his debts. There is a certain justice to serving readers the bad news about Rick Mirigian along with the good.

I don't think you were the only reader startled to see "JESUS" in 108-point type on Sunday's front page. But it's not part of any religious agenda here at The Bee. The story was a light-hearted look at an offbeat controversy in Mariposa over a proposal to allow ministry-sponsored paintball games on county land, and nothing more.

The timing of the story, overlapping with the weekend's Promise Keepers coverage, was purely a coincidence. Promise Keepers is a regular event that would merit coverage no matter what the subject because it draws huge crowds.

As for our regular Saturday Faith & Values page: as a regular reader, I'm sure you know that we cover all faiths, including some that have only a small presence in the Valley. in recent weeks, for example, the focus of our Saturday page has included a Buddhist festival, an Islamic family camp in the Sierra and a new Unitarian church in Fresno. One of the great things about life in the Valley is the range of faiths that thrive here. We will continue to reflect that diversity in our pages.

Thank you for your feedback on our coverage of the Spector trial. The extent of our coverage has varied based on the interest level of the news coming out of the trial that day.

I believe we have covered this case in a manner consistent with other high-profile state crime cases, such as the Robert Blake murder trial, for example. It has received far less coverage than the O.J. Simpson case, which is natural considering Spector is not as well known and the case has not generated as much widespread interest. We also gave more coverage to the Chandra Levy case because of its proximity to our circulation area.

Thanks for your email. Unfortunately, you have been hoaxed by an Internet rumor that is nearly three years old. But don't feel bad--you have a lot of company.

First, here is the account attached to your email.

The Media (Accidentally?)Missed this one!!!!
Please read this, then send it to everybody you know.
They'll thank you as they forward this to others as well.

Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers who have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims. There are some buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a Hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the Hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

The question I have is why does Brad Pitt, Madonna, Tom Cruise and other Hollywood fluff make front page news with their ridiculous antics and Denzel Washington's Patriotism doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the Local newspaper in San Antonio.

Like most Internet rumors, this anonymous account takes a bit of truth, pumps it up with some fiction for dramatic effect, and suggests that news organizations are suppressing the story to advance a nefarious political agenda. And, like others, it will probably continue to circulate until the Earth stops spinning.

As the San Antonio Express-News reported at the time, Washington did visit the base (it's "Brooke," not "Brook") in December 2004. Months later he made a "six-figure" donation to the Fisher House organization; neither he nor the group would say more about it.

Express-News editor Robert Rivard wrote in July, in response to questions about the email account flying around the country, that "Washington and his wife were moved by their visit, and they joined the Fisher House board. But he didn't whip out his checkbook and cover the $1.5 million cost. He wasn't even carrying a checkbook the day of his visit."

Snopes.com, a well respected urban-myth buster, has a fairly complete account of this rumor's history.

Bottom line: People who read the local newspaper coverage got a straightforward, factual account of a story that was interesting for residents of San Antonio, but hardly national news. People who got the anonymous email got a fanciful conspiracy theory built on fiction.

Of course, us being West Coasters, we had to wait until 8 p.m. to see the awards. It was kinda fun ... watch the show, read Donald's comments within minutes of the segment, guess who the winners will be. And, since there are commercials, surf the web a bit. Including, say, FresnoBee.com! Where I saw the breaking news - of all the TONY WINNERS!

What's up with letting right coast news creep in to West Coast feeds?
That's like exposing the "Survivor" winner on your home page. Or the "American Idol" winner. Or the Tony Award winners.

C'mon ... what happened here??

Stephen Mintz

Our home page wire news feeds are provided by McClatchy Interactive, the East Coast-based Web operation of our parent company, in real time for people who want to stay abreast of the news as it happens. Hence, anything that happens live on the East Coast but is delayed on the West Coast (such as season finales and award shows) will show up on FresnoBee.com in East Coast time, much as the wire feeds do for many news Web sites such as CNN.com.

However, we are looking at ways to allow FresnoBee.com readers to choose whether they want to know results that are being delayed on the West Coast. One way might be to add a story in front of these real-time feeds when the event is not live on the West Coast, which would force someone to choose whether they want to see the results. Another might be to put a disclaimer on the blog when we do a "watch along" to tell readers that real results can be found on the FresnoBee.com home page.

We want to have the information available for anyone who wants it, when they want it. But we also know how much fun it can be to see award shows and season finales without having the ending given away.

Patricia Davis

This question is not easy to answer. For a front-page story June 8 looking at area grads deemed "most likely to succeed" by their peers, we picked a sample of area high schools, looking for a mix of urban and rural from around our circulation area. None of them happened to have chosen students who are black.

There is considerable racial diversity in the group, but African Americans -- at less than 7% of the local population -- are, just as a matter of chance, less likely than some other ethnic groups to be included in such a small sample.

Should we have made a conscious effort to show racial diversity? The correct answer isn't obvious, but I would be uncomfortable with that. As a newspaper, our job is to reflect reality, not to dress it up.

Maybe a better answer would be to tally ALL the "likely to succeed" students in the area and choose example students in proportion to the ethnic mix of the whole group. If that effort is practical, we'll certainly consider it next year. Thanks for raising the point.