Opinion
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Slanted headlining
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Published: March 19, 2009
Updated: 03/18/2009 07:40 pm
On March 12, the lead headline above the fold on the front page of the Journal was "Obama signs bill full of pork," and the first line of the article was, "President Obama railed against pork-barrel projects yesterday, then signed a massive spending bill stuffed with them." I must object to the use of such slanted headlining and reporting.
The "earmarks," or "pork-barrel projects," many of which will provide much needed jobs, and/or research, make up less than 2 percent of the total spending bill. While the remainder of the article explained the conditions under which the bill was passed, and the very real objections to it, the headline and the beginning sentences leave the erroneous impression that most of the money to be spent would be done so unwisely.
Many people read no more than the headline and the first few sentences of a news article and think they have been informed. In this case, they would not have been.
PATRICIA A. RECK
Winston-Salem
Wonder why
I am not a supporter of the Fibrowatt plant just outside Elkin. I live about three miles from the proposed site. I am concerned that this incinerator will be brought to Surry County and in a few years we will wonder why we sacrificed our health, community and the environment.
Fibrowatt may bring in a few jobs, but with this incinerator comes air pollution, a 300-foot smoke stack, less profit for farmers who produce chicken litter, more trucks on N.C. 268 and the potential for dangerous runoff into the Yadkin River. I think that in the long term, the negatives far outweigh any positives.
So, what can we do? Our concerns and questions need to be addressed by our cities, county and Fibrowatt.
ABBYE BLACKWELDER
State Road
The time is not right
The March 2 Journal had a story about revaluation ("Few home values decline") with Pete Rodda, Forsyth County's tax assessor, saying that what the numbers show is that the time was ripe for revaluation despite the worrisome economy. He said, "The tax office recognizes the challenging economic times that we are in."
I really have to question the validity and honesty of this last statement. We are losing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide and North Carolina has been hard-hit as well. Foreclosures are at their highest in many, many years. Most citizens are finding ways to cut back and my heart goes out to those who have lost their jobs. They are doing everything possible to hold onto their homes until this economy recovers.
And the reason I question the truthfulness of Rodda's last statement came in the March 16 item, "OPEC decides to hold line rather than push prices up." OPEC Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri said, "We see people who are out of work, we see people in tents in the most-rich countries." He said that the time is not right for more radical steps.
So it would appear that the head of OPEC has more concern for our plight than a North Carolina tax assessor! The time is not right for this revaluation and it should be rescinded until this economy is on a steady climb back.
MORRIS W. FLOYD
Winston-Salem
Hard to understand
I am an avid newspaper reader and worked for three major metropolitan newspapers in marketing for 33 years. Because of the financial restraints facing newspapers today, I have been saddened but not surprised by the recent cutbacks you have been forced to make. I was dismayed, however, to read about the plans for the Thursday Living section ("To our readers," March 12).
I understand why, in order to conserve space, you are discontinuing the emphasis on science that day, while continuing to cover it in other sections of the newspaper. I also realize that folding the standing features into the Sports section will achieve economies in makeup.
However, when you noted that Scott Hollifield's column will be moved to the Tuesday Living page, I was shocked. With today's premium on space, it is hard to understand your continuing his column at the expense of other writers and features recently eliminated. I must assume that some research has shown that Hollifield attracts a demographic group that is important to your future readership.
Having tried repeatedly to read his column, only to be totally confused as to what he is attempting to say and turned off by his feeble attempts at humor, I have to assume that I am not in his target group. I would be extremely interested to know who is.
LINDA KIRBY
Winston-Salem
Do what you need to do
Please, do what you need to do and limit the paper to three days a week, as so many others have already done. This death by a thousand cuts is unbearable. The faithful will continue to pay for less and less of a paper, but eventually it will be just the front page and the all-important sports section, combined.
Please just do the merciful thing and make the cut now.
MAUREEN MARGADONNA
Winston-Salem
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