SATURDAY LETTERS : TRADING CANNON FIRE

To blame the messenger for a troubling message may be a phenomenon as old as the Bible. Nonetheless, I must take exception to Cannon Films co-chairman Menahem Golan’s characterization of the Hollywood Reporter’s coverage of his company in its time of crisis as “nasty smears” (Outtakes, by Pat H. Broeske, May 17).

If Golan can document this assertion, let him do so; if not, let him apologize.

Additionally, Golan’s belief that a “trade” newspaper has a responsibility to be “positive” is regrettably misguided. As sophisticated advertisers know, and as industry readers expect, a publication focusing on the news of show business does not abandon basic journalistic standards; it is neither positive nor negative.

However, because it is a “trade,” one hopes its focus is sharper and the light it sheds on matters of interest to the Hollywood community is brighter than that of the general-interest “consumer” press.

When Golan’s company weathers its present difficulties and once again prospers, I and my colleagues at the Reporter and elsewhere will chronicle it; if his company does not, we will write that story too--hopefully, with compassion and understanding, but, above all, with accuracy.

LOUIS CHUNOVIC

Hollywood