DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711210016

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LYNN FEIGENBAUM

                                            LENGTH:  101 lines

REPORT TO READERS THE WISCONSIN: REAL OR MEMOREX?

Should the battleship Wisconsin be berthed at Nauticus? That's been a hot potato all week, the subject of news stories and editorials, letters to the editor and online jousting. Basically, it's between the military community (a rousing ``yes'') and the next-door condo owners (``Don't block our view!'').

Just how would the Wisconsin look alongside Nauticus? The Pilot's graphic artists thought it would be a good idea to bring that reality home to readers. So, with the Nov. 14 front-page story assessing alternate sites for the battleship, they designed a computer illustration showing the battlewagon parked in the Nauticus basin.

Dennis Hartig, managing editor of The Pilot, and staff artist John Corbitt explain how it was done:

The illustration was based on a 3-D model of an Iowa-class battleship purchased from a specialty Web site. Corbitt then took the model and digitally applied details specific to the Wisconsin - sort of like pasting decals on a plastic hobby model.

The next step was to superimpose the 3-D model on an aerial photo, taken especially for the occasion by Pilot photo intern Nhat Meyer. Corbitt was able to size the ship in proportion to Nauticus and the basin next to it. Special software also allowed him to turn the ship and manipulate its size.

``The result was an image that provided important information that helped people understand the unfolding story,'' said Hartig. ``It was so real, however, that some red flags went up over concern that we might be distorting the truth.''

So not only was the photo tagged ``computer illustration,' but a white-type-on-black box below the photo stated: ``Artist's conception of the Wisconsin berthed at Nauticus.''

Funnies problem not funny! ``Y'all printed the same cartoons/Jumble that you did Monday and I'd like to know why.''

That was the question of the day Wednesday. It all began Monday when, due to a computer-coding error, the wrong comic page ran. Those were Wednesday's comics and Jumble.

But most people don't read the microscopic date etched into the panels so hardly anyone noticed, aside from a few Jumble stalwarts tipped off by the out-of-sync solution. Not a squeak from fans of ``Rex Morgan, M.D.,'' the only comic with a sequential story line.

Still, Pilot editors went all out to repair the damage, running two facing pages of comics on Tuesday - Monday's and Tuesday's. That too confused readers, especially oldtimers who probably recall that The Pilot and Ledger-Star used to print double comic pages on holidays, when the two papers (they had different comics back then) ran as a single holiday edition. Double comics were also printed the day before Christmas, a nonpublishing holiday for many years. Had they missed a holiday?

Tuesday's Break front did have a message to readers, briefly explaining the snafu. But our callers didn't see it. So on Wednesday, they were doubly confused. That day's comics looked kind of familiar.

Well, now you know why. But we probably ought to listen to the advice of Alex Jublou, a 10-year-old Norfolk reader. ``I read the comics every morning,'' he said, ``so I would like for the comics to be printed properly.''

We hear you, Alex.

Looking for the fine print. Those agate listings of public-record information have always appealed to certain readers. Many of those lists have been dropped from the Pilot over the years - marriage licenses, births, divorces, DUIs, bankruptcies, etc.

Mostly, it was a matter of prioritizing space use - or ``weeding the garden,'' as Beacon editor Kevin Armstrong put it.

But there were other reasons. Births went because, for security reasons, hospitals wouldn't release names without the signed consent of parents. DUIs (drunken-driving offenders) were controversial. The question arose, said Armstrong, of why were we singling out these people while others - drug and sex offenders - go unexposed? Where do you draw the line?

There was a stronger argument for running the real estate transfers - they allow people to keep up with the market. Usually, they're in the community news sections. But lately, space has been tight, especially in the Norfolk Compass, and the lists get dropped. Invariably, we hear from readers.

Armstrong and fellow community editors found a solution. Starting next month, perhaps as early as Dec. 6, the real estate listings for all cities will appear in Saturday's Real Estate Weekly. Seems logical!

Burying Portsmouth. Readers of that fine city are a particularly touchy lot. So it didn't escape their notice that Portsmouth had last place in the Nov. 14 obituaries.

``I hope it's not going to remain that way. Portsmouth was after the Eastern Shore,'' said Kaye Miller, a Norfolk Realtor. ``I actually thought maybe nobody had died in Portsmouth. That would have been good but it's not the case.''

Miller sees Virginia Beach encroaching on all things Hampton Roads. P comes before V in the alphabet but you wouldn't know that from our newspaper, she said. Even in the Classifieds, Virginia Beach houses for sale are listed first.

``I've had clients call in and say, `We didn't think you had anything in Norfolk,' '' said Miller. ``I hope that's not a sign of what's going to happen with the obits.''

No, the obituaries were not in their usual order because of a layout problem that day - many had photos and they weren't fitting correctly on the page. There are no plans to permanently bury Portsmouth behind Virginia Beach.

Horrible Homonym of the week. From a story in last Sunday's Portsmouth Currents about the young star of ``Annie'': ``When she removes her red wig, her long black hair flows almost to her waste.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu