THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509300002
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
What could be better than a story with a message of courage and love? How about two stories with that message?
It happened Thursday, and readers responded. On the front page, reporter Debra Gordon related ``A father's journey of love,'' about a Panamanian farmer who hiked through jungles and over mountains to get help for his daughter, Demetria. She needed surgery for a cleft lip and palate.
``I'm not calling about something wrong,'' said Sunny Taylor of Norfolk. ``I'm calling about something that's just really wonderfully right, the story about the little girl.''
Taylor wondered if there was any effort under way to help the village or the family. ``I'm not a rich person or anything,'' she said, ``but I'd certainly want to contribute.''
It's no surprise that readers are drawn to upbeat stories, especially on a day when the news seemed anything but. Death row inmate Dennis Stockton was executed by lethal injection; the Norfolk City Council deliberated over underwriting Nauticus, at taxpayer expense; the O.J. Simpson trial was in its contentious, closing-argument stage.
Still, ``A father's journey of love'' dominated the front page. And in Sports, Bill Leffler's story of 15-year-old Michael Bright also brought out the urge to help. Michael's dream to play varsity soccer has been put on hold by a brain tumor.
Several readers called Leffler and said they would pray for the youth. Mike Pishner had a different way to reach out. After reading that the boy is losing his hair to chemotherapy, he offered the free services of his Virginia Beach hair-replacement center.
There were more Good Samaritans earlier in the week. On Tuesday, they read the disturbing front-page story about the effects of war on a Sarajevo family. Three readers called, wanting to help - a frustrating offer since there is little mail communication with the war-torn city.
The point is that people look to their newspaper for worthy causes. They want, said Portsmouth reader Marjorie Witt, the good mixed in with the bad.
As Witt said about Demetria's story: ``No matter what kind of sadness or tragedy happens in the rest of the world, things like that give us hope.''
Some other reader concerns:
BLUE IS ENOUGH. Paula Hughes of Virginia Beach was offended that Wednesday's front-page story about the Blue Angels mentioned that the self-grounded team leader is ``the first African American to become the team's skipper.''
Was it necessary, asked Hughes, to mention race? ``It jarred me. . . . It could have been left out and not made a bit of difference to the article.'' I agree.
SKINS BASHING. It's only four weeks into the football season and already reader Martin Warren is tired of us bashing the Redskins.
He particularly disliked Tuesday's Sports-front story, ``Maybe the Skins are just plain bad.''
``It used to be things were more positive,'' said Warren, ``not so in-your-face, they're-a-bunch-of-bums. . . . I thought this was Redskins territory and that you'd be more supportive.''
You can't win, said sports writer Jim Ducibella. ``Things were more positive when they were winning 10-12 games a year. Then we were criticized for being `homers' because we were too praising.''
SUBURBAN STEREOTYPE. Jerry Campbell feels we've indirectly made him the stereotypical blue-collar nonvoter.
Why? Because a story last Sunday compared the high voter turnout in Hodges Manor, Portsmouth, to the low turnout from residents of Timberlake in Virginia Beach. And the color photo of Timberlake showed his house.
Campbell says he happens to be a registered voter, but no one from the newspaper asked him. He feels his house was selected because of the pickup truck, his company vehicle, parked out front.
It was just chance that took a photographer to Campbell's house. But I can understand his discomfort, especially since a street sign in the photo pinpoints the location.
NOT SO COMIC. Claire Danner didn't think the comic strip ``Calvin and Hobbes'' was very comic Tuesday. In it, Calvin says (about a school fire drill), ``When do they pass out the gasoline?''
Danner found that offensive, especially in view of the recent fire at Princess Anne High School, which her children attended.
I'll disagree that we should have dropped the comic, even if arsonous quips make us squirm. These strips are written for a national audience, and inevitably one will strike a sensitive local chord now and then. Worse, to me, would be regular ``censorship.'' by CNB