Balanced coverage is a worthy goal

In the Aug. 31 Gazette, Sunday Editor Michael Chevy Castranova quoted philosopher and TV commentator Alain de Botton: 'The noblest promise of news is that it will be able to alleviate ignorance, overcome prejudice and raise the intelligence of individuals and nations.” Castranova's assessment was, 'And to that I say, amen.” Clearly he believes it is a worthy goal.

But wait. In the same issue, four full pages were devoted to the Iowa/UNI football game, with four different contributing writers and thirteen photos by three different photographers, all staffers for The Gazette. I enjoyed the game, too, but that's a lot of ink for an intrastate game between non-rivalry and non-ranked teams. In fact, the sports section was the same number of pages as the Insight section and twice the size of the Business 380 content where Castranova's column appeared.

But wait again. In the back of the Insight section was a story about two Pulitzer winners from the internationally acclaimed Iowa Writer's Workshop in Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature. The story was not written by a Gazette staffer (no byline) and the photos were provided by publicists. Apparently, two magnificent Iowa Pulitzer-winning authors and the four-day Iowa City Book Festival will never trump a three-hour, overly-hyped Iowa City event where young men catch and throw footballs.

Castranova, please translate your 'Amen” into a product that alleviates ignorance, overcomes prejudice and raises intelligence. Please just give us balanced coverage. That, too, is a worthy goal.

James Kern

Cedar Rapids