Dear Readers:
Dr. Ink was quite taken by a recent letter to the editors of the St. Petersburg Times. It was written by one John Goberis who lives in Sun City Center, an enclave of old farts who actually read the newspaper.
In this case, Mr. Goberis complains: “You can’t hide your Democratic bias.” Such complaints usually come without evidence, but this epistle compares the headlines on two stories appearing on the same page on the same day.
“In the first one, where Republican Frank Brogan criticized Democrat Bill McBride, your sub-headline read, ‘Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan reaches back more than a decade to criticize Bill McBride’s law firm management.’
“In the second one, where Democrats criticized a Jeb Bush appointee, your sub-headline read, ‘Democrats and women’s groups continue their assault on Jerry Regier’s views, as expressed in a 1988 article.’
“Even though both of these articles describe events that occurred more than a decade ago, look at the different slants you put on them. It’s okay for Democrats to criticize Republicans for something that happened over a decade ago, but somehow unseemly for a Republican to criticize a Democrat for a decade-old event.”
Mr. Goberis does not say specifically, but it is obviously ‘reaches back’ that is the burr under his saddle. While the denotation is not offensive, the connotation suggests a slant, that the Republicans had to work extra hard to find dirt on the Democrat.
In this political season, this citizen reminds us that finding neutral language can be a difficult but important part of our jobs. Doc, approaching old fartdom himself, remembers the presidential campaign of 1972 where reporters described “Nixon slumping into his limousine” and “McGovern striding into his sedan.” Hey, they were both getting into their cars.
