FROM: Terry Lynch@aol.com; POB 241035; Montgomery, AL 36124-1035 
Phone: (334) 272-4217 voice  (334) 277-3582 fax via arrangement

DATE:  July 10, 1998 

TO:  Letter to the Editor      

SUBJECT:  Watch Your Bananas Before They Rot

Cal Thomas of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate hit the mark 
with his informative editorial "Errors Join Bias In Some Media," 
reprinted July 10 by the Advertiser.  In fact being a 
Bible Belt newspaper the Advertiser is plagued by the 
exact types of prejudice Thomas details.  What I wonder is why 
the Advertiser doesn't listen to the good advice of a 
longtime broadcast commentator and reform its own editorial 
policies?

Even if the majority of advertisers and readers may be prejudice, 
may hold conservative viewpoints or may be right wing 
fundamentalist Christians, the Advertiser should not serve 
as a public forum for spreading individual hatred, intolerance or 
making personal attacks or accusations of a defamatory nature.

I understand the Advertiser has an editorial board which 
includes prominent members of the community.  Although these 
persons may be well qualified in their personal professions, I 
wonder about their qualifications and experience as it relates to 
newspaper publication.  How many have degrees in journalism?  How 
many have degrees in law with expertise in libel law?  How many 
have even read The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual 
? How many even know the difference between slander and 
libel and the legal consequences of defamation?  And how many 
even took or aced a college level creative writing class?

I enjoy bragging about the later stipulation because it is one of 
many achievements of which I am most proud.  Yet my opinions are 
often censored and what of my work is published often receives 
unwarranted personal attacks!  What role, I wonder, has the 
Advertiser played in this process?

Before letting anyone influence the editing of a major city 
newspaper, I think some basic standards of excellence should be 
met.  These standards should be of a journalistic and scholarly 
nature.  You are not qualified to edit a newspaper or even give 
advice on the subject just because you teach Sunday school.

If the Advertiser does not act to adopt a more qualified 
editorial board and policy based upon high journalistic standards 
of excellence, Pulitzer prize aside, what it prints may start to 
rot of personal insult and injury.  Then the Advertiser 
may find itself in the same position as the Cincinnati 
Enquire which had to pay $10 million for running a defamatory 
story about Chiquita bananas.

Sincerely, Terry Lynch
Montgomery, AL