Howard L. McHenry’s letter “Are you a political fool?” (June 5, TribLIVE) awakened the need for a letter that I have been meaning to write for some time. McHenry seems to insinuate that the Associated Press (AP) coverage as presented in the Tribune-Review is somehow not to be trusted, and that you dear readers of the Tribune-Review are “political fools” if you believe the AP coverage.
Do I think the Tribune-Review distorts or otherwise misreports its sports information — no! Do I think the Tribune-Review obfuscates or distorts its financial news reporting — no! Do I believe the Tribune-Review misreports, under-reports or distorts its local news coverage — no (although more in-depth analysis would be appreciated)! Why, then, would I believe that the editorial brains that put together the unbiased coverage of local, sports, financial and other regional news suddenly abandon their critical faculties and give carte blanche to the AP?
Hopefully McHenry’s sources of information do not produce the list of bizarre conspiracies mentioned in Russ Schmidt’s June 6 letter “ ‘Real world’ of conservatives” (June 6, TribLIVE).
My background is in nearly 40 years of coal industry consulting, and I have a healthy skepticism of just about everything. I ingest a large, eclectic mix of information sources including mining industry publications, financial publications, mainstream TV media, NPR, PBS, various print and internet media sites, and The Economist magazine (especially prized for its worldly, detached coverage). I find the Trib’s news coverage to be fair and balanced.
James Kvitkovich
Hempfield