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READERS’ REPRESENTATIVE: Headlines shouldn't imply Cuba is a democracy
• At least a dozen readers called or wrote objecting to the February 25 headline, “Cuba elects Raul Castro.”
“The word ‘elects’ … implies a free government with free elections,” wrote eloquent e-mailer Charles Schollenberger. “If ‘elects’ was used it should have been in quotes, ‘elects,’ indicating a dubious claim. Raul Castro has yet to participate in a free election and probably never will.”
Of course, the subheadline and the story itself carried multiple qualifications, noting that the transition was carefully orchestrated and quoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s statement about the nation’s lack of democracy.
Headline writing is an awfully particular art, and I think it’s sometimes too easy to armchair quarterback. But one reader suggested “Raul Castro takes power,” which would have been accurate and fit in the space. The Star’s Aaron Barnhart noted that simply changing “elects” to “selects” would have fixed it, too.
• During recent economic woes in the U.S., including slow business in the housing market and other industries, readers have reiterated a complaint that I hear during good times and bad: Media coverage of the bad news creates a vicious circle, causing readers to look at only the negative, further suppressing the economy.
I think that’s very difficult to quantify, but I suspect it’s more than a little true, especially for people who skim headlines and don’t follow the news closely.
On the other hand, journalists would be abdicating their responsibilities by downplaying concrete news like Fed Chair Ben Bernanke’s recent dour testimony before Congress.
The old saying that “news is what someone wants to suppress; everything else is advertising” is patent nonsense — just ask a concentration camp survivor or a polio patient. And of course “good” news is often in the eye of the beholder.
In the end, cumulative impressions of the overall balance of positive and negative are highly individual and subjective. That’s why reader feedback is so useful for editors in evaluating whether they’ve hit the target or missed the boat.
• Multiple readers contacted me about last Sunday’s House and Home section cover, which featured a photo illustration of a model wearing a Renaissance festival-type dress that accentuated her chest.
“It’s the most vulgar thing I’ve ever seen,” said one caller. Another called it “totally outrageous.”
As I’ve written in the past, taste is certainly subjective and no two people have the same thresholds. But something about this image was clearly disturbing to several.