Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the June 12, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Between the Lines
As they strive to get the facts right, editors experience
a certain tension. Even when they do get the facts and quote sources
correctly, some reader may still object to the message. The editor,
as the messenger, gets caught in the crossfire.
Last week we had just such a story, on Turkey, and we received this
letter from Plainsboro resident Alexander Khrabov:
“Today at Princeton YMCA, I looked through your publicationand have read an article about Turkey (U.S. 1., June 12). I noticedsome omissions: (1.) the genocide of Armenians of 1915-’16, widelyconsidered as a pre-cursor for the Holocaust, for quite serious reasons;(2.) the ongoing policy of ethnic cleansing and discrimination towardthe Kurdish minority. And what’s with calling Turkey a `democracy?’”That article was based on Nicole Plett’s interview with JoyStocke, a world traveler who would be speaking at Barnes and Noblethis week about her travels to and impressions of Turkey. We knewabout the history of the Armenians’ treatment at the hands of theTurks, but maybe we should have been more wary of the quotation offeredby Stocke that “people should particularly know about Turkey because. . it’s an ally of America, a NATO member, a secular Moslem republic,that could provide a model for other emerging republics.”If Alexander Khrabov’s take on Turkey is correct, then perhaps weshould have challenged Stocke’s upbeat description of Turkey as acultural crossroads where “you can do it all.” We put in acall to Stocke for this column, but got through only to a messagemachine. It’s enough to turn an editor’s hair gray.But reader response is not the only source of job-related stress foran editor. More often than you might suspect, the editor manages toinadvertently upset one of his or her own writers. That scenario occurredin the very same issue. The headline on the cover read “Elementsof Style: Nick Hilton helps men dress for success” and drew nocomplaint. But the headline on the inside, written by Richard K. Rein(not known for his sartorial excellence), read “For the Man WhoIs a Slob: Just in time for Father’s Day, a new men’s clothier.”The writer sent Rein this comment: “Just as an attractive windowdisplay invites customers into a store, an interesting headline leadsreaders into a story. The reverse is true as well. The headline forthe article on Nick Hilton made me want to stop reading. It’s mean-spiritedand reflects poorly on all involved. It ridicules Mr. Hilton as thesubject, denigrates me as the writer, and portrays the publicationas less than first-rate.”When presented with this, Rein responded yes, the headline might havebeen more dignified, but that he had taken it from the snappy quotationin the very first paragraph of the writer’s story: “So many wivescome in and say `My husband is a slob. Can you help?’”No wonder some editors are subject to more than just gray hair. Foran account of Rein’s own recent journey into the world of cardiaccare, please turn to page 11. And until we all gather together againnext week, let’s eat our fruits and vegetables, get some exercise,and stay cool.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
