We Can’t Win Dept.

Thank you for attributing the “mad as hell” quote to screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (Letters, March 29). It indicates you are artistically well-intentioned, but--sadly--misinformed. Howard Beale, as the “purists” you have addressed are no doubt aware, never said, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” though others, especially in the latter half of “Network,” did.

What he said was: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”--a slight variance, perhaps, but with this innocuous error you have committed the journalist’s cardinal sin: You have not checked your source. Rather, you have lazily decided to rely on your own, faulty memory and what has been remembered by the public.

Though misquoting a fictitious character (and, as you have pointed out, a screenwriter) might not immediately be considered a monumental error, it illustrates in a small way how easily fact can become garbled and truth distorted.

If my concern seems unwarranted, you need only recall the recent incident in which the supposedly reliable CNN came within seconds of erroneously broadcasting news of President Bush’s death after receiving a telephone call from an unknown--and unchecked--source.

That kind of sloppiness clearly points out the difference between a mediocre news organization--where accuracy is held in high but not crucial regard--and a superior one, where the preservation of facts and fastidious attention to even the smallest details are absolutely critical.

JOHN TRAVERS

North Hollywood