THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604130030
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Lynn Feigenbaum
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Newspaper readers have high standards. They expect writers and editors to be infallible, omniscient, unbiased and, perhaps most unreasonable, able to spell.
We fell short this week, especially on the first and last counts. Callers questioned The Pilot's expertise on subjects ranging from glaciers and musicology to geography and religion.
Some of these items were already corrected. But in most cases, a brief correction just didn't do the trick. A thesis might have been more appropriate.
ICE IS NICE, BUT. . . The first challenge came in response to Monday's MetroNews story about the Antioch Pines Barren, an Isle of Wight tract filled with rare trees and plants.
Lovely article, the kind that makes you want to hustle on over for a nature walk. But several callers pointed out a problem. The story said that seeds of the unusual plants were carried there by prehistoric glaciers - and that glaciers covered that land during the Ice Age.
Gary Moretti of Chesapeake remembered a high-school science lesson: The glaciers made it as far down as New Jersey, but not into coastal Virginia.'
He's right, said G. Richard Whittecar, associate professor of geological sciences at Old Dominion University. The evidence all suggests that there were no glaciers in this area.
Those rare trees and plants, said Whittecar, migrated by other means, such as wind, and disappeared when the climate warmed up - except for a few remaining in protected sites.
All this doesn't take away from the ecological wonder of the Antioch Pines Barrens - but one doesn't play fast and loose with a glacier.
SOUR NOTE: On Tuesday, the problem was a headline on a music review. It said, ``Bassist shows he's a successful soloist with all-around show.''
As several readers quickly told us, a bassist is someone who plays a bass instrument, not someone who sings bass. You would describe the singer as a ``bass'' (we're not talking about rockfish here) or a ``basso.''
But that wasn't all. ``To call a serious concert a show!'' added Helen Guthwin of Virginia Beach. ``That headline writer would benefit from a course in music appreciation.''
Most of us could. A dozen lashes with a bass viol string!
WHAT'S IN A NAME? Also on Tuesday, we got a religion lesson. It applied to an Associated Press photo of a ``member of the Jewish priestly caste'' praying at the Wailing Wall, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem.
Sandy Eisenpress of Portsmouth, who was secretary to an Orthodox rabbi in New York, found the caption ``full of misinformation.'' Most misleading was the statement that ``Jews named Cohen'' are considered descendants of the Temple's high priest, Aaron.
Well, not everyone named Cohen has that distinction. Those priestly descendants are called, in Hebrew, the ``Kohanim.'' And their names might, or might not, be Cohen or Kohen or even Katz.
That was explained to me by Rabbi Philip Krohn of Gomley Chesed Synagogue in Portsmouth. When I called to ask about this, he also found other pitfalls in the brief but errant caption. For example, the photo did not portray a ``priestly blessing,'' as the headline said. (AP later sent a correct.)
But Rabbi Krohn said he would not have quibbled about the words. He was just glad to see a photo of the observance in the paper.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. From Israel to Africa - and Wednesday's front-page story, ``Americans evacuated from Liberia.'' A pullout said Liberia ``became the first independent African state in 1847.''
Not so, said an anonymous caller. ``If you'll look closely at history,'' he said, ``Ethiopia is the first independent African country. . . . You can refer to any history textbook.''
I did. But I also consulted James Brown, associate professor of history at Norfolk State University.
The World Book Encyclopedia describes Liberia as ``the oldest black republic in Africa.'' Yet it also says that Ethiopia ``is one of the few countries in Africa that never became a European colony. It has been independent for about 2,000 years. . . .''
So our caller had a good point.
``Ethiopia has always been independent and had its own history,'' said Brown, except for 1931-36, when the Italians took over.
Thus, he confirmed, it's probably safer to say that Liberia was the first independent African state in ``modern'' times.
A WAIST OF TIME. And, finally, spelling.
There are two candidates this week for the Horrible Homonym award - those devious words that elude both common sense and computer spell-checks.
The first comes from a Business Weekly story that said, ``He writes almost in lecture form, telling us how America's managers are fairing.'' (The italics are mine.) That should, of course, be faring.
But wait, it gets worse. An ad later in the week invited the public to a hearing for a proposed ``hazardous waist treatment plant.''
Quipped one caller: ``Now I'm about 205 lbs., so I have a hazardous waist, but I'm certain this is not what you're speaking about.'' MEMO: Call the public editor at 446-2475, or send a computer message to
lynn(AT)infi.net by CNB