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.
The June 10 Post featured some unfortunate photo positioning. The front page of the Style section was dominated by a picture of Evan Goldstein, the subject of “The ‘bottom whisperer’ will see you now. Back there,” pulling on a rubber glove. The Sports section led with a shot of tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz celebrating his French Open win. The strained look on Mr. Alcaraz’s face made it appear as if the good doctor reached through the pages and got to him just as the picture was taken.
Alan Peterson, Williamsburg, Va.
I am no prude nor against any sexual preferences of anyone. But the June 10 Style article “The ‘bottom whisperer’ will see you now. Back there,” with its description of various anal betterment processes, seemed in poor taste for The Post. I wonder how many people fancied knowing the intimate intricacies of his procedures or personality. I realize the article might have been intended as a nod to the LGBTQ+ community. However, I’d be surprised if the target audience wasn’t embarrassed by the level of detail described here.
Sandhya Gandhi, Rockville
Yet another impossible beauty standard for women
Amid all the analyses of AI-generated depictions of women in the June 9 front-page article “Beauty remains a narrow standard in eyes of AI,” did anyone else notice that the largest photo under the Stable Diffusion segment on Page A15 shows a woman with at least three hands?
Larry Powers, Springfield
Artificial unintelligence
Regarding Shira Ovide’s June 14 Tech Friend column, “The real goal of Apple’s AI makeover”:
Call it artificial intelligence, Apple Intelligence, Meta AI or what have you, but intelligent it is not. So until chatbots stop recommending that we eat glue sandwiches, and Facebook stops wanting to help me make my posts “longer,” I’ll call it what it is: Ain’t-I.
Susan Dawkins, Clyde, N.C.
Hostage rescue narrative required more care
The logic governing The Post’s June 9 coverage of the heroic rescue of four Israeli hostages from their captors in Gaza was truly inscrutable to me. The lead front-page photograph featured a debris-strewn Gazan street. A photo of an elated, newly released hostage returning home in safety alongside his Israel Defense Forces rescuers appeared below the photograph of the street.
The first sentence of the accompanying article, “Israel rescues four hostages in bloody raid,” began with an explanation of how many Gazans were killed, prioritizing the toll of the operation over its results. The article focused so much on the death and destruction of the operation but did little to acknowledge that there were two sets of combatants in the exchange. The article wrote only that “Israeli forces came under fire inside the two buildings,” rather than acknowledging Israeli reports that Hamas fighters used heavy weapons and RPGs, which of course necessitated Israeli backup to protect the soldiers and hostages and resulted in additional casualties.
The article might also have spent more time laying out the implications of the fact that these four innocent hostages were locked in rooms within two “civilian” buildings. The conditions of their imprisonment corroborate reports from those previously freed that some Gazan families have made themselves complicit in this crisis by helping Hamas hold more than 100 civilians (including a 1-year-old) hostage for more than eight months.
This war, and all its lamentable loss, could end quickly if Hamas released the hostages, and stopped holding Gaza captive to its ideology of hatred and death.
As a significant newspaper of record, I expected that The Post would cover the Gaza crisis with due recognition of the illegality of hostage-taking — for any purpose. I have therefore become dismayed by the narratives adopted by reporting teams and editors in several recent articles, none more so than the June 9 coverage of Israel’s operation to free four hostages.
This lead story in the paper rushed past the miraculous rescue of four hostages and relegated the Oct. 7 killing of 1,200 and abduction of 250 to Page A19. However, the scant seven sentences on the first page included the phrases “bloodiest raid,” “fiery assault, “devastation,” “grievously wounded Palestinians, some without limbs, writhed in pain” and a quotation from Khalil al-Degran, spokesman for al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, that “Israel committed a massacre in Nuseirat.”
Israel has legitimate justification for rescuing people who have been held hostage for 250 days as part of a conflict for which there is little hope of resolution. What would The Post have Israel do to rescue these hostages? It is not Israel’s fault that Hamas and allied terrorist groups purposely hold the hostages in areas like crowded refugee camps. Hamas and allied groups, not Israel, are at fault for civilian deaths related to the rescue.
Had global public opinion been galvanized and action taken in the early days by an international coalition, we would not be where we are today with hostages in Gaza entrapped for so long with many dead, injured and dying. We would not have innocent Palestinians killed alongside the terrorists as Israel strikes back hard to eliminate a proven threat along its border.
More care should be given to the narrative and more recognition that those who continue to hold the hostages are the ones who are wrong and who are responsible for bringing death to their innocent neighbors during a rescue like this.
Elissa Leif, Silver Spring
The June 9 paper discussed the hostages held by Hamas and the slaughter committed by Israel in both a front-page article and Ruth Marcus’s op-ed, “Still in Gaza, forgotten Americans.” Neither of these pieces mentioned several important related issues.
First: the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons both before and taken since the Oct. 7 attack. Their friends and families say many were taken at random. Often, these prisoners have been held for several years with no convictions or even charges or trials. They are held under continually renewed “administrative detention.”
Second: the plight of the American hostages held by Hamas, which ought to play a larger role in U.S. policy. I don’t think victims of any demographic are less or more worthy than others. However, President Biden is responsible for keeping Americans safe. When he provides weapons to the Israelis, he risks allowing those Americans to become collateral damage.
And finally, the rationale for all this violence, not even the rationale for Hamas’s rebellion and hostage-taking in the first place.
Arlene Halfon, Washington
The passive voice winds us up
Please, please, please: Do not use passive constructions to describe police violence. The online headline of the June 14 front-page article should not read “A transgender man was in mental distress. Police wound up killing him.” A more accurate headline might have read something like “A woman’s brother was in mental distress. The police officers she called for help shot him.”
The police made a choice. In this case, and many hundreds of others, police officers are choosing to use lethal violence. It’s not the result of some inevitable process, such as that implied by the phrase “wound up.” The officer deliberately chose to fire multiple rounds.
Inevitably, Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano described the officer’s assumptions about whether he and his colleagues were in danger as “not unreasonable.” But part of the officers’ jobs is figuring out how to appropriately manage those in distress. If police can’t do this, we as a society need to assign other people to do so. Maybe if the people who respond to those in crisis didn’t have guns, they would find alternative de-escalation strategies.
Karl Kronebusch, Brooklyn
Regarding the “Abused by the Badge” series:
Good golly. The June 13 front-page article “The teen wanted to be a cop. Instead she was abused by one in his patrol car.” was the most disturbing article I’ve read in ages and shone a spotlight on the dark corners of child sexual abuse. There are so many bad actors involved who create a system that fosters and hides these crimes. I am truly appalled.
Nancy Loving, Minneapolis
Celebrate Mexico’s democracy
I found the headline and the tenor of the June 4 front-page article “For Mexican democracy, ‘warning signs,’” on Claudia Sheinbaum’s victory in the presidential elections in Mexico, negative and ideological. Why did the headline and opening repeat right-wing talking points that paint the success of the Morena party as a step toward authoritarianism rather than celebrate the election results produced by a vibrant democracy? The first woman president of Mexico, who is Jewish to boot, won with about 60 percent of the vote, the biggest win in a genuinely competitive election in Mexico’s history. Why not listen to what the Mexican people are saying about how they want to be governed?
Steven Klees, Silver Spring
Road safety is no accident
I was surprised to see The Post repeatedly refer to Sen. John Fetterman’s collision with another vehicle as an “accident” in the June 14 news article “Fetterman had history of speeding, distracted driving before recent crash,” despite the fact that the Pennsylvania Democrat was reportedly driving over the speed limit at the time of the collision and that this is behavior that has apparently gotten him into trouble in the past. An accident is an unpreventable occurrence, not the logical and predictable conclusion of reckless driving by a repeat offender who chooses to drive at excessive speeds.
Ralph A. Blessing, Washington
R-E-S-P-E-C-T elders (just a little bit)
Thank you so much for Michael Ramirez’s June 11 editorial cartoon, “About Time,” which showed President Biden’s life rapidly running out. I am also 81, and I’m in the process of buying a new residence for a new life in a new neighborhood. According to Ramirez, I should just head straight to the cemetery and save myself the effort.
Elaine Schwartz, Alexandria
Whoever was responsible for placing the Opinion columns by Kathleen Parker and Anne Lamott next to each other in the June 9 print edition gave me great pause. Parker’s declaration that “The White House is no place for old men” bumped up against Lamott’s account of being “Invisible and exposed — but adaptable, as only the old can be.” Why is it that our culture seems to label all those over 70 years of age as bungling, senile or incompetent? Just as the young develop at different rates and stages, so, too, do older adults. Let’s admire the years of experience and wisdom that come with age and not assume seniors are all the same.
Elizabeth Dietel, Bethesda
R-E-S-P-E-C-T genius (just a little bit)
Why does The Post feel it is inappropriate to use pejoratives to describe everyone except computer professionals? The latest example of this trend was the June 11 online article “New heroes of spaceflight: Not the astronauts but the software nerds.”
I do not feel that this headline or general tenor of article is unique. Perhaps The Post believes that “geek” and “nerd” are not pejoratives but, rather, titles to which all of your readers aspire?
Jon Powell, Portland, Ore.
Thanks for the June 7 World Digest item “At least 100 killed in RSF attack on village,” on the killing of more than 100 people in an attack on a village in Sudan, and the June 15 news article “U.N. calls for end to siege of city in Sudan civil war.” This war, which has affected many civilians, has been going on for more than a year, and millions of people are in danger of starvation. I think giving this conflict more prominent attention might bring out the best in those idealistic people who are protesting the war in Gaza on college campuses and elsewhere, as well as international institutions that can hasten the needed humanitarian relief and cease-fire. I hope the religion of the victims or the perpetrators of the violence in Sudan has nothing to do with the lack of attention to this tragedy or the lack of concern about the risk of genocide and the commission of war crimes in that conflict.
David Hornestay, Silver Spring
We paved paradise — is it time to replant?
My father and grandfather were among that diverse group who worked in the temporary buildings discussed in Michael Auslin’s June 11 Tuesday Opinion column, “ ‘Last Tempo’ in Washington.” My grandfather Cyril Crichlow was born in Trinidad, British West Indies, in 1889. After he moved to the United States, he worked at the Munitions Building, Army Air Corps office and other departments from about 1925 until he retired in 1951. His positions were listed variously as messenger, classified laborer and clerk stenographer. At one time before moving to Washington, he was principal of the apparently short-lived Crichlow-Braithwaite Shorthand School in Harlem. On one letterhead in his file is “War Department Message Center, Rm. 3441, Munitions Building, Washington, DC.” Grandpop died in 1965, way before I was able to ask questions about his life. He did leave a bit of a written trail, though.
My father, Marin Crichlow, was born in Mississippi and, after moving to New York and New Jersey, settled in Washington with his family by the mid-1920s. In about 1951, after working at the Pentagon and after filing an equal employment opportunity case, he began working as an assistant plumbing foreman for the General Services Administration, then headquartered in the Navy and Munitions Buildings. He eventually became, it is believed, the first Black foreman plumber in the GSA. When the buildings were torn down in 1970, Daddy was given a demolition memento from the Navy and Munitions Buildings. I often visited my father at work and even worked in those buildings during summer and winter vacations. I do often wonder how much asbestos we were exposed to there.
It certainly seems worthy to save the Liberty Loan Building and to possibly have a museum on the federal workforce there that would include stories of all the diverse people who have worked in government. If the Liberty Loan Building is torn down, hopefully some parts of the building will be saved as souvenirs.
Linda Crichlow White, Washington
The writer is a trustee of the D.C. History Center.
In his appeal to preserve the last of the flood of federal temporary buildings in D.C. of the past century, Michael Auslin completely missed the forest for the trees — quite literally. His exhortation to designate the flatly fundamentally functional and decidedly desultory nondescript Liberty Loan Building as a National Historic Landmark is akin to memorializing a streetside waste receptacle, by mere virtue of the longevity of each.
A better effort for all, and an enduring long-term initiative, would be the incremental restoration of the once-grand forest that majestically characterized the noble quality of L’Enfant’s Federal City.
Auslin himself noted that “thousands of trees were felled to make way for the tempos.” We would serve ourselves well to reconsider the endless development and destruction of the fast-diminishing natural world. In the paraphrased and prescient lyrics of Joni Mitchell, the human race does itself no long-term favors by endlessly paving paradise and putting up parking lots.
Remember when gifts had no strings attached?
I’m disappointed with the recent change to The Post’s gift link policy. Anyone who wants to read articles shared through gift links is now required to register with The Post. Though I understand the importance of subscription-based models for sustaining quality journalism, I strongly believe this change might have unintended consequences that outweigh any potential benefits.
First, the whole point of a gift article is that it’s supposed to be a gift. There shouldn’t be additional conditions. Requiring registration also creates a barrier for readers who value their privacy and are hesitant to share personal information. Many people might choose not to register, because it’s an impediment to reading, so they close the tab and find a similar article elsewhere and could even lose interest in The Post altogether.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that the New York Times does not require registration to view gift articles, although it does show a prominent gift article banner. This inconsistency could lead to a competitive disadvantage for The Post, because people might trust gift articles from the Times to be more easily accessible than gift articles from The Post.
I hope you will consider the potential consequences of this change and explore alternative solutions that balance the needs of your publication with the preferences of your readers.
Ali Fleih, Ypsilanti, Mich.
Twisters, we’re not in Kansas anymore
Kudos to the Metro team on its excellent coverage of the aftermath of the tornadoes that struck Montgomery County on June 5.
The June 7 Metro article “‘We got very lucky,’” about the impact on the affected communities, was just what one looks for in local news. “Elements that gave rise to an outbreak of twisters,” the Capital Weather Gang’s description of the whys and wherefores of the storm, was, as usual, clear and informative. The photos and the graphic of the storm’s path complemented the articles perfectly.
Jacquelyn Smith, Silver Spring
Root, root, root for sports journalists
The sentence that leapt out at me from Jerry Brewer’s June 12 Sports column, “The media has been complicit,” was Robert Lipsyte’s declaration, “Fans don’t really want real journalism.”
This column was probably the most poignant piece to have appeared in the Sports section. It serves as the lament for the larger demise of our social and intellectual integrity. Heartbreakingly well said, Mr. Brewer. It is the public above all, even above the media, that is reaping what it sows. First and foremost, it is the citizenry responsible for “A republic, if you can keep it.”
George Hoskin, Burtonsville
I was extremely impressed with Jerry Brewer’s recent column. His comprehensive coverage of the changes in sports journalism reminded me of retired Post sportswriter Thomas Boswell. They share an intellectual honesty, intensity and excellent writing style that more journalists could stand to study.
Robert J. Seidel, Fairfax
