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Reader: I opened my Californian newspaper
(Saturday, Oct. 4) and saw the headline
“Kern picks Palin in poll.” The article
stated that it was a Bakersfield.com poll. In
other words, the participants were not chosen
at random, they were self-selected,
which can cause significant problems on
how accurate the results are. The headline
should have probably read,
“Bakersfield.com users pick Palin”. This
would be closer to accurate. How do you
know that you had a...
Reader: I noticed your response to a
writer in today’s paper who complained
that you removed two paragraphs from an
article that were critical of Sarah Palin. I
admire your decision not to print “anonymous”
comments. I am concerned, however,
about the following:
A New York Times article, printed in the
Sept. 21 Californian bore this headline:
“Vice presidential debate gets more structure
to satisfy Palin concerns.” Hmm?
Sounds like maybe the...
Reader: I was interested to compare the
Los Angeles Times article you printed on
Wednesday’s front page headlined “Don’t
take Palin lightly, aides warn,” by Stephen
Braun and Tom Hamburger, with the version
of the same story printed in the Times.
I realize it was a long article and you
couldn’t print it all, but two paragraphs you
deleted were two that were critical of her. It
seems to cause a furor in this community if
she is criticized in any way....
Reader: Outstanding article! I want
you to know how very much I appreciated
the first-person article on officerinvolved
shootings that ran last Sunday
and Monday.
Felix Doligosa did an excellent job of
portraying his personal experiences. He
apparently tried very hard to place himself
into the role and capture what a
person feels and experiences.
I would say from my own experiences
that it is impossible to describe the
range of emotions that an individual
goes through after these...
Reader: A reader wrote to “Sound Off”
last week explaining how she was troubled
by the increasing displays of physical affection
between same-sex couples in the
media.
Every time she mentioned her concern
she was specific in saying it was “same-sex
couples” that were troubling. When you
answered her, you referred to her as one
who prefers “to not witness public displays
of affection.”
It is somewhat subtle but also rather
obvious you/your paper...
Reader: After reading last
Sunday’s Californian, I
could not help recalling a
Shakespeare quote: “the
(Californian) doth protest
too much, methinks.”
Clearly, neither the liberal
press nor media can stand
the heat (and public outing)
now that a clear image has
been demonstrated as to
the media bias in this election
year. It has become so
obvious that even neutral
polling has made the point.
The Californian is no different
and the Sunday paper
further...
Reader: When it comes to scrutinizing
candidates, Editorial Page Editor Dianne
Hardisty’s “Sarah Barracuda” column misses
the point. The charge that the left-wing
media made, even before Palin had a
chance to stand before the American people,
is that she should not be running for VP
because she is a mother of children. Yet this
very media has never challenged Obama on
the same issue even though he is a father.
This is a double standard and pure sexism.
Even before...
Reader: I think that your newspaper
has ran more positive and
more stories supporting the
Democratic side. As a newspaper
you should be showing all information
for both sides. I am Republican
and do not like the information
you have been printing. If this continues,
I hope that more people in
my situation feel the same way and
discontinue your newspaper.
— Peter Martinez
Jenner: One week ago, on the eve
of the Democratic National Convention,
we ran a front page profile of...
Reader: I just wanted to tell you that
I was really surprised at all the nega-
tive comments that were made con-
cerning the new format.
From day one, I found the new size
totally easier to handle. The expanded
TV section is awesome, and I find the
print extremely easy to read. And this
comes from a person who sometimes
uses a magnifying glass to read direc-
tions. I really prefer the magazine-size
papers as far as handling goes, but I
am not going to complain about...
Reader: Messing with the
comics again. You are using
old survey results to elimi-
nate comics that are miles
ahead of some of the newer
ones. Sherman’s Lagoon in
really funny on almost a
daily basis. Marvin is so-so,
and can be at least cute.
Mutts and Brewster
Rockit aren’t even worth a
chuckle. How about a new
survey before you do some-
thing so drastic?
— Mindi Pugh
Reader:I can understand
your wanting to go to a
more...
Reader: I guess I just don’t quite get it,
but it never occurred to me that any article
written by one of your column writers was
anything but his or her opinion, and not the
opinion of the newspaper.
I just couldn’t believe when I saw it that
you actually had to put what amounts to a
disclaimer stating that the opinion is not
that of the newspaper, but of the writer.
You are essentially covering yourself
from any liability associated with that arti-...
Reader: I was surprised to find that, once
again, Planned Parenthood was omitted
from the list of health and wellness organi-
zations named in the Annual Edition of the
Kern Life Magazine.
For a magazine that claims to inform
Kern County residents of available servic-
es in their community, I find omitting
Planned Parenthood to be a huge disserv-
ice to those seeking a comprehensive list of
options. Perhaps if editors were aware that
the Bakersfield Planned Parenthood...
Reader: Love the paper. Read it
every morning. Thanks to a great
delivery person who has it in my
driveway early. That said, pet
peeve. I realize the line dividing
“sports” from games and exhibitions
has been blurred, but come
on, poker is a card game! Are the
results of the World Series of Poker
featured in the sports section
because World Series is in the title?
Riveting action here, right there
with the infomercials airing on television
at 2 a.m.
— Mark...
Reader: You people seem to
be playing tricks with the news-
paper. Why?
You put the Local section in
the headlines section; then you
undid that and put the Eye
Street section in the Local sec-
tion.
You put photos across the top
of the front page and move the
masthead up and down across
those from one day to the next,
until last Wednesday when you
moved it completely off the
page!
You’re making me crazy!
What is going on?
Sharon Vignol
Mullen:...
Reader: It amazes me that we allow freedom
of expression when it is convenient to
our own personal agenda, and the last time
I checked we still had the right of free
speech in this good old U.S.A. I have always
enjoyed Leonel Martinez’s column and will
immediately cancel my subscription to The
Californian. What will be the reason for his
column to be discontinued? You will truly
have lost a great journalist and I feel that
your loss will be someone else’s gain....
Reader: Well, it seems County
Clerk Ann Barnett has a friend in
Californian columnist Marylee
Shrider. They both seem to have a
hatred for gays and the gay marriage
issue. Shrider wrote that “they
of the slippery slope school are left to
ponder the logic or lack thereof
behind the courts ruling.” Did she
even read the ruling or was she only
quoting the opinion of the Heritage
Foundation? Everyone has their own
opinion but some show such hatred it
blinds their thought...
Reader: Truth at last. Mr. Jenner,
you finally told us the truth
about why The Californian no
longer publishes the TV Guide on
Sundays. Last week on Sunday your
answer was to a lady who had written
who was disturbed about the
non-publication of the TV Guide on
Sundays. You quoted her as
“extraordinarily expensive to produce
and the alternative was making
deep cuts to local coverage.”
Well, finally, finally the truth
instead of that baloney that you put
out for nine...
Reader: I always enjoy reading
up on various and unique food
joints Bakersfield has to offer,
but restaurant reviewer Pete Tit-
tl’s description and review
regarding the “deep-fried burg-
er” and Green Frog Deli was pet-
ty.
It’s bad enough when The Cali-
fornianreviews and rates Kern
County Fair foods: fried Twinkie,
fried snickers, etc. Now, I know I
don’t speak for all, but I for one
would sure like to see some of
Tittl’s...
Reader: This week we received
in our newspaper a very professionally
done flier for Cliff
Thompson.
The Californian goes to great
lengths to make sure that everyone
who is a candidate or an
elected official must present all
kinds of information about themselves
and their clients, if they
have any, any and all gifts and
who their contributors are to
their campaigns.
It would be interesting to know
who paid for the flier for Cliff
Thompson. Who are the contributors
to his...
Reader: The editorial board lost a great deal of credibility with its backhanded
endorsement of Supervisor Ray Watson.
There (are) a number of reasons for The
Californian not to like Supervisor Ray Watson.
Most notable is the fact that most of
his professional career was devoted to
being a successful and aggressive competitor.
Watson developed KGET-17 into a
powerful force that effectively competed
with The Californian for the role of being
the community’s journalism leader,...
Reader: I am totally outraged that this
despicable paper saw it fit to print the picture
of Eight Belles broken down and
standing in Monday’s edition. What a travesty
that you had to include this picture
along such a sad but very informative article.
Other major publications, who report
on horse racing showed some class and ran
the article or other articles on the same
subject, without that ghastly picture.
I have been in the horse racing industry
in many capacities over the...
Reader: The Bluffs propertywas purchased with the idea of
developing it. Somewhere along
the way, someone stepped forward
to decide that was not a good
idea. The problem with that is that
it is wrong to take away someone’s
right to their property and what
they do with it.
Those that fear eminent domain
understand that fear. The birth of
terms like “viewshed” have
appeared. Terms like “the
machine” and others have come to
the front.
In the first...
Reader: I’ve been watching the
Russell Johnson issue play out
over the last few days. Wanted to
give my two cents to the subject.
It’s curious to me why your
newspaper is pretty darn near
hysterical over this allowable
vote to remove this planning commissioner
and appoint a different
one. Why aren’t you even a little
bit interested when one of your
“favorites” — County Supervisor
Mike Maggard — does the same
stuff? In fact, why...
Reader:Thank you, THANK YOU for
deciding to resume the Pet of the Week
feature. Please don’t limit the highlight-
ed pets to those from just one adoption
agency, but “rotate” through the many
agencies if you can. Also, please consid-
er listing all the agencies with their con-
tact info at least (if not hours, etc.) each
time you run the feature.
The printed and Web versions of the
paper are an important source of infor-
mation and education for your...
Reader: Over the last several
months you have had articles in
the paper about what is happening
to the Episcopal
Church/Anglican Communion.
Most of these articles are slanted
toward events for the group
Remain Episcopal with little positive
information and news about
the whys and wherefores of the
now Anglican Diocese of the San
Joaquin.
This Diocese is headquartered
in Fresno and John-David
Schofield is our Bishop. With the
exception of four churches in our
Diocese, which...
Reader: To The Bakersfield Enquirer,
I am writing in regard to the article about still
more animal horrors on April 7. It seems there is
no end.
First it was large pictures of dogs being put to
sleep. I am curious how many of your reporters
are animal haters.
I guess you never thought that small children
read the paper and of course this would catch
their eye. Some would even awake at night cry-
ing because of the nightmares about their own
animals.
I...
Reader: In Tuesday’s paper I
read about the Kern County Sci-
ence Fair winners and it was so
nice to see the winner honored.
These students have spent months
on these projects and have won at
various school and district levels to
be able to attend the science fair.
My hat goes off to every student
who made it to the county level.
I was disappointed to see that the
paper did not bother to print the
fourth and fifth grade winners. It
does not matter that they do...
Reader: I am outraged that you would
picture an animal being euthanized on
the front page of your Sunday paper. I
realize there is a serious problem with too
many animals being abandoned, but children
will see these articles, and how do
you expect them to handle this?
This problem is caused by adults who
take animals in and then decide not to
care for them and just turn them over to
the Animal Control or simply drop them
off to fend for themselves.
Adults need to step up and face...
Reader: I was just reading the
fantastic coverage you have on
local high school sports today,
March 14th. And, wow, the Garces
boys tennis team scrambled for an
SEYL win the 13th. And I saw the
other day that David Carr signed a
deal to sit on the bench for the New
York Giants.
When is the paper going to have
some justice and fair (and important)
reporting. Your paper still has
not written anything about Shafter
High junior Anna Jelmini. She is a
discus thrower at Shafter (and...
Reader: I am deeply disturbed
at the short, yet insensitive and
hurtful article about the tragic
motorcycle accident and death of
Dale Detjen that you ran on Page
B3 of the March 1 Californian.
You had to make the article a little
more “tantalizing” by mentioning
three times in less than 100
words that Dale was the father of a
girl that died in a choking accident.
You failed to mention that Dale
was an L.A. county sheriff’s deputy
who served meritoriously over a...
Reader: I am writing to express how much I appreciated
last Sunday’s column by Andy Kehe, “Scholars
deserve recognition, too.” It was especially appropriate
this column was placed in the Sports section.
The Kern High School District is committed to a
comprehensive experience for our students that
includes academic, athletic and extracurricular programs.
However, the athletic accomplishments of our
students sometimes get the lion’s share of media
attention...
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