‘NewsHour’ Balance

Once again The Times, in this case via Howard Rosenberg, is calling for the fixing of something that just “ain’t broke.”

I speak of Rosenberg’s May 21 column on the assertions of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), the “media watchdog group” that criticized “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” as being skewed narrowly toward the Establishment and the government. Surely Times media specialists agree that public-station broadcasts provide about the only respite from the crime, conflict and comedy that commercial stations present for viewers with tastes developed short of the 12th grade.

It is enough to know the FAIR data came from two sociologists. In my day, the student of sociology was defined as he who didn’t have the courage to go to business school and didn’t think precisely enough to be in the physical sciences. What possible service is performed by making a public display of their assertions?

Please spare us the minority case-making, the Central American dissenting and the labor union proselytizing and let us enjoy a dignified, scholarly news hour that is enjoyed by the majority just as it is.

T. BRUCE GRAHAM

Port Hueneme