Every week, The Post runs a collection of letters of readers’ grievances — pointing out grammatical mistakes, missing coverage and inconsistencies. These letters tell us what we did wrong and, occasionally, offer praise. Here, we present this week’s Free for All letters.
Why run a photo depicting two players — catcher Keibert Ruiz and another, apparently equal in stature — without identifying the other player in the caption? Inadvertent or not, this player deserved to be named. Baseball is, after all, a team sport.
Steve Horwitz, Odenton
Properly protect photo subjects
Photographs of three soldiers accompanied the Feb. 25 front-page article “Two years of war and the forever changed lives of three Ukrainian soldiers.” One was Taras, a young man identified only by his first name and call sign, supposedly to protect his identity. However, there were two photographs of him, and a simple Google search let me know that identifying someone from photographs is easy. No doubt anyone who wants to identify Taras has more sophisticated methods of figuring out who he is.
How is this man’s identity protected when he is shown in a photograph? In the front-page photo, he looked as though he could use a hug from his mother — or any mother. He is 24, and I wonder whether The Post put him in danger by publishing his photo.
This is not the first time I have noticed this. If photographs in a newspaper are somehow safe and one cannot identify the people in them, please let me know. I hate to think The Post is putting its subjects in danger.
Karine Rafferty, Gaithersburg
When it’s right for service members to exercise this right
The Feb. 27 Metro article “Who was the U.S. airman who burned to death in protest?” stated, “U.S. service members are prohibited from acts of political protest, under the Pentagon’s long-standing policy of remaining nonpartisan while civilian leaders oversee policy decisions.”
Defense Department Directive 1325.06, enclosure 3 provides that off-post protests by active-duty service members are legal as long as the protest is done off-post, in the United States, not in uniform, not in “breach of law and order,” and not in a situation in which “violence is likely to result.” Military service members are often wrongfully and illegally told by commanders that all protest is forbidden, but this is not true.
James M. Branum, Edmond, Okla.
Similar to ‘shooting spree’
I appreciate The Post’s coverage of national and international issues and the historical perspective and insight David Von Drehle offered in his Feb. 16 op-ed, “Kansas City confronts a crisis that’s all too familiar.” However, I find I have a gut-level antipathy to the term “mowed down” when describing the end of a person’s life in an act of violence. Please reconsider. We do not want to become desensitized to the reality and pain of gun violence.
Rachel Cox, Clemson, S.C.
Preventing losses in translation
I’d like to request that when the The Post runs articles that include names and words in Chinese that the paper print the relevant Chinese characters next to the romanized versions of the words.
Why is this useful? Since a given romanization can correspond to hundreds of characters, we don’t know for sure what actual Chinese word is being referred to when only a romanization is used.
Since the technology is there to use Chinese characters, please use them! This wouldn’t be needed for common personal or place names such as Xi Jinping or Shanghai, but it would be useful for new or rarely used words or names.
Mark Lewellen, Vienna
Next time, we’ll tell it like it is
Rhoda Feng’s Feb. 24 Style review of “Tempestuous Elements” at Arena Stage, “High marks for staging of Black educator’s life,” did its very best not to state that this is a production that missed the mark. I would have welcomed a more direct engagement with the production’s strengths and weaknesses.
The costumes rarely changed in substantive ways, despite Feng’s reference to the lovely period garb. There just was not an eye feast in the drama — particularly in the choice of which Arena Stage venue to use. One of its smaller theaters would have served this play better.
The recent play “Swept Away” at Arena Stage also had a basic plot. Men on a whaling boat destroyed. A few men survive. Cannibalism is required. Some survive. Some don’t. Yet the story was enriched by clever set design on a a small stage that fostered intimacy with the characters and music.
So much more could have been done in “Tempestuous Elements” to engage the audience. The achievements of Anna Julia Cooper are amazing, as a trailblazer in the voice of women and the voice of African American education and culture.
Betty Walter, Annandale
Redeeming the losers of the inflation blame game
Heather Long’s Feb. 29 Thursday Opinion column, “Experts boast about a strong economy. Why doesn’t it feel that way?” gave understandable reasons for some Americans being mad about higher costs. But I wish this column and articles concerning inflation would point out that President Biden and other Democrats are at most responsible for a fraction of the high inflation we experienced.
The Oct. 10, 2022, article “Economy got boost that drove inflation” reported that, according to one analysis, the Democratic action that is blamed for the high inflation actually caused as little as 0.3 percentage points of it (while handing Americans cash that offset the impact of rising prices on their household budgets). The best proof that Democrats didn’t cause it is the fact that inflation was worse in other countries, such as the conservative-run United Kingdom, an outcome obviously unaffected by anything Biden and other Democrats did.
Rick Smith, Triangle
Clearing the right names
The Feb. 29 front-page article “Hunter Biden says he never involved father in business” noted that “House Republicans have not been able to uncover firm evidence that Joe Biden benefited from — or played a role in — the business pursuits of his family members.”
It would have been more accurate to say that House Republicans have not been able to uncover any evidence, firm or otherwise, connecting President Biden to his family’s business activities. In fact, the principal source of the accusation now stands accused in federal court of committing perjury and other crimes in the process of providing the information that House Republicans are relying on in their investigation.
Lawrence Meyer, Washington
We don’t know how he can top it!
I’m not sure how House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can top his dithering, as a Feb. 25 news headline suggested he might [“Two GOP veterans urge House Speaker Johnson to top dithering”], but I guess he can try. Getting my popcorn ready.
Bill Cusmano, Arlington
Pulitzer-worthy criticism
I hope The Post has submitted Ann Hornaday’s articles for consideration for a Pulitzer Prize for criticism. And I hope the Pulitzer judges take note: Her reviews of new films (and old) and commentaries about the entertainment industry are always astute, timely, informative and beautifully written.
Her latest, the March 3 Style article “Jeffrey Wright is finally in the Oscar hunt. He’s ready,” was a perfect example of her insight and knowledge of the film industry and those who make their living in it.
Robert Litman, Washington
Hey, Old Sports
Thanks for the wonderful Feb. 22 Sports article “On Washington’s birthday in 1936, Johnson put a local legend to the test.” It was an excellent read, and the excerpts from The Post’s 1936 coverage were interesting and enlightening.
Those quotations captured how people were back then. The descriptors were so pleasant to the ear. I just don’t think reporters could get away with writing in the same style now because it might appear too flowery. And it was also interesting to read about the era’s emphasis on patriotism. This article about history reminded readers that love of country should not be a relic of the past.
Michael Berenhaus, Bethesda
‘But her emails’ all over again
I was offended by the choice to lead the Feb. 10 paper with an article about President Biden’s supposed memory problems. The headline — “Alarm among Biden’s backers” — compounded this deeply problematic choice.
The article was about Democrats’ concern that stories about Biden’s cognitive condition will become a serious problem that will hurt his chances for reelection, much as the many spurious stories about former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s emails helped doom her bid to become president in 2016. That is a real concern, and it would be fine to report on it — just not at the very top of the paper and definitely not with a headline that reinforces the idea that Biden’s memory lapses are a real, confirmed condition associated with his age, which they absolutely are not.
Story placement and headlines are absolutely basic to the message that the paper conveys. The headline should have focused on tactics and concerns in the presidential race, not on the story concocted by right-wing politicians and media that Biden is losing his faculties. And the article should definitely not have been placed first.
I agree that “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Swirling misinformation based not in fact but in twisted conjecture can also kill it. I beg you, do not use your mighty platform, which is one of the foundations of our democracy, to magnify and further empower falsehoods that threaten our democratic system.
Alison Greene, Durham, N.C.
Don’t read it and weep
I wish the daily comics page could be printed in color so I could see the dialogue in “WuMo.” On some days, I miss the punchline because it’s too hard to read black type on a dark background. Or maybe the text could be converted to white on gray.
Otherwise, I’ll have to find an address for creators Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler, so I can send them some clippings.
Harvey Kabaker, Silver Spring
We should’ve clarified it in a heartbeat
As an obstetrician and gynecologist, I am extremely disappointed in The Post for printing the extremely misleading Feb. 25 front-page article “Texas woman faced possible death with ectopic pregnancy. She was sent home to wait.”
The headline and article would have left most readers with the impression that it was likely that Texas’s heartbeat abortion law was to blame for the delay. The article stated, “Her case highlights a chilling reality of post-Roe America.” Yet the article acknowledged that Texas law explicitly allows doctors to treat ectopic pregnancies.
And watchful waiting rather than potentially unnecessary surgery can be the best and safest approach for treating a possible ectopic pregnancy. Such a course might even be considered the standard of care in many situations if the pregnancy hormone levels are dropping, as was reported in the article.
Miriam Yudkoff, Annapolis
