Perspectives on Heston and heaven

Bob Smith of Glendale calls him Chuck Heston -- he knew the man for 20 years and spent time with him at the L.A. Tennis Club -- and was horrified to see the Matt Wuerker cartoon in The Times' opinion pages on April 8.

The drawing, which ran in black and white in The Times, showed Heston at the Pearly Gates hoisting a rifle and wearing an NRA shirt while St. Peter says, "I don't care if the guy says he's Moses! Pry the gun from his cold, dead hands, or he isn't going nowhere..."

In a phone message, Smith called the cartoon "unbelievably tasteless." In a conversation later, he added, "I was horrified to see that caricature in The Times. He was one of the fairest-minded people you'll ever see on this planet. And it's cheap to go after his image after he's passed away."

Many other readers who didn't know Heston personally also raised concerns.  Eric Cooper of Santa Monica also thought the cartoon was in "extremely bad taste": "No matter what his or your views ... the week he passes away is not the time to make him the butt of a joke. Why ridicule someone who can now no longer respond? He lived over 80 years. Ya had plenty of time." Cooper added he doesn't happen to share Heston's perspective on guns.

Funeral photos and family wishes

"It is absolutely DISGUSTING that the L.A. Times had the audacity to put a picture of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr.'s open casket on the front page. Shame on you, Times. He deserved more respect."

So wrote Tracy Goldych, of Brea, about the main photo on Wednesday's Page A1. Other readers left similar criticisms about the large photo.

The message from Paula Green, a long-time reader from Pomona, was, "To see on my driveway at 6 this morning a photo of this young man who died so violently, lying in his open coffin -- I was just so upset that I did not bring my newspaper into my house."

Emotional objections are raised whenever The Times publishes a photo of an open casket at a funeral service. This particular photo was part of the coverage that started with the March 2 fatal shooting of Shaw, who had been a good student and outstanding athlete. But readers might be surprised to know that in most cases the families often feel differently about showing such vivid scenes of sorrow.

(The photo runs at the bottom of this item.)

 

Naming sex-crime victims

Asked Dawna Kaufmann of Los Angeles in an e-mail: "Why did your reporter name the woman who [said she] was groped by a physician during a legal procedure to terminate her pregnancy? She was a victim, and by naming her, and giving her age and city, you may have put her life at risk."

The article was about allegations against medical facilities for improperly performing abortions. The passage the reader criticized was this: "One of the patients, Sherman Oaks resident Yvette Chambers, 43,  said in a phone interview that Reich groped her breasts and asked explicit questions during an abortion at a Van Nuys clinic."

Yet another woman in the article was, as the story said, "identified only as Angela P. in records of the Medical Board of California." Angela P. had required aid from paramedics after going to the Clinica Medica Para la Mujer de Hoy in Santa Ana for an abortion.

In a story that dealt with sensitive issues that might involve individuals who would have some expectation of privacy, why was one woman named, and the other not?

Race, gender, religion: What's the relevance?

Several descriptives applied to candidates in recent campaign coverage have raised valid questions: What details are needed, and what is extraneous, in reporting on candidates? When does faith -- or race -- go from something reporters and editors try to strip out of the discourse, to a necessary fact?

In pursuit of Britney Spears

The Jan. 5 story on the front of the California section -- and on the latimes.com homepage for a while -- reported that Britney Spears had been hospitalized, and barred from visiting her sons. It was also a look at the reporting frenzy outside her house, reflecting, as the story put it, that "Spears is perhaps the most pursued celebrity in Hollywood."

Some readers feel that The Times itself has pursued that story too much.

Baseball affidavit

A front-page story today reported that former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley accused a number of baseball players of using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, according to a federal affidavit that was unsealed Thursday. The Times article named the players in the affidavit, and went on to report that "the unsealed affidavit contradicts a story The Times published Oct. 1, 2006."

A correction ran as well.

Headline for a 'rock pioneer'

This post was originally published Dec. 18, and because of a technical problem was temporarily unavailable.

"Ike Turner, 1931 - 2007: Rock pioneer was known for abusing wife Tina Turner."

That headline brought more than a dozen complaints to the writer of the obituary (who didn't write the headline).

Physical descriptions

The Dec. 9 expose told of a man who, as the opening line said, "spent six months looking for a boy who didn't exist -- and found him." It had one reader admiring the story but also raising a point that other coverage occasionally brings as well: Why do news articles include certain physical descriptions?

The question here had to do with a talented detective -- who happened to be "short" and "balding."

Missing information

A clarification published Tuesday provided information that wasn't in a Nov. 25 review. The Dec. 2 story of a woman whose life was changed by an errant bullet included a detective's contact information but not specifics on how to help the woman.

Two other stories last week brought up the same question: When does The Times include information that a reader moved to action by a story might need?

Of crimes past

From reader Michael McGrorty of Pasadena: "I wonder why it is that The Times publishes photographs and addresses of the sites of murders and other crimes on its Daily Mirror weblog. Those homes are occupied by people who are separated from the gruesome events by half a century, and who may not even know that the crimes occurred there.  The occupants may awaken some morning to find themselves the objects of curious gawkers; perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur will organize a bus tour of the listed sites. It is one thing to publish pictures of homes and other places currently in the news; quite another to dredge up this material to the detriment of the current residents of those homes."

Larry Harnisch, who fills his Daily Mirror blog with news of crime and law enforcement of 50 years ago (he's also been a copy editor at The Times since 1988), responds:

What 'he said' really means

After a recent story, a source called to complain about the language "he said" at the end of a quotation, noting that he had never actually talked to the writer of the story but had communicated only by e-mail. Do the words "he said" or "she said" imply a face-to-face meeting, a telephone conversation or an exchange of e-mails? Is there a difference?

Following is an e-mail conversation among a number of staffers presented with this question.

Naming names

A number of readers asked about the Nov. 21 article headlined “LAPD officer seriously hurt during drug probe.” The story’s opening lines: “An undercover Los Angeles police narcotics officer was seriously injured early Tuesday when he was run over by a suspected drug dealer who the officer was attempting to arrest, authorities said. Officer Tony Salazar, 37, suffered two broken legs, facial injuries and head trauma” when the suspect allegedly ran over him with a car.

As several readers asked: Why did The Times publish the name, potentially compromising the officer's undercover status?