LETTERS
Bush endorsement undermines our trust
There is a larger story behind The News' editorial endorsements of George W. Bush and Republican mayoral candidate Jane Lumm. They show how out-of-touch, or at least out-of-sync, the paper is with the community it purports to serve. Neither Bush nor Lumm won a single precinct in Ann Arbor, and Kerry received 65 percent of the vote in Washtenaw County.
The News is certainly entitled to voice an opinion that doesn't simply parrot the views of its readers or local voters. But what does it say when the leadership of the newspaper has perspectives and values regarding the issues of the day that diverge so dramatically from those of its readers? Being a good and effective newspaper means much more than simply showing up and getting the facts right. It entails knowing what issues, values and perspectives are important to the people in the newspaper's community and crafting the content of the paper to respond to those issues, values and perspectives.
To what extent can readers rely on the choices The News' editors make about what stories to cover and how to cover them when the political choices of those editors are completely opposite of their own?
Thomas F. Wieder, Ann Arbor