Pacific Views

Dear Abby Qualmsbudsman ...

Over at Editor & Publisher, the Qualmsbudsman strikes again:

Dear Qualmbudsman: Is Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts a hero or villain for encouraging a soldier to question Donald Rumsfeld about the lack of armor on military vehicles? -- M. Bedd

Ask a soldier who survives an attack because of a soon-to-be-better-protected Humvee.

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Dear Qualmbudsman:
But it's good for democracy to learn whether fraud allegations are true or not, so such things won't happen in the future. Is there any way to make it attractive for newspapers to send lots of reporters to Ohio?
-- Hal O. Columbus

Release Scott Peterson and hope he attacks a voting machine in the Buckeye State.

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Dear Qualmbudsman:
A recent Gallup Poll revealed that "values" are nowhere near the top concern of Americans. So why did many newspapers say George W. Bush won the election because of "values"?
-- Earl Moral

Because many papers believe in the journalistic version of traditional marriage -- the wedding of simplistic explanations to complex events.