Prickly Press

Brian Lowry’s “West Wing” article (“Aaron Sorkin’s Spin Cycle,” Nov. 21) was, as usual, thought-provoking. It is interesting that Sorkin’s portrayal of the relationship between the White House and the media has taken a turn to the negative, and I can’t help but think that it is at least in part a result of Sorkin’s strained relationship with the press.

However, even given the show’s patriotic tone, I have felt in the past that the portrayal of the relationship between CJ and the White House press corps was one of the show’s weaknesses. Even on their best days, Ari Fleisher, Mike McCurry and most of their predecessors’ relationships with press corps are/were at a minimum combative, usually hostile.

So has the show’s portrayal of the relationship between the White House and the media taken a turn to the negative? Yes. Is this a more accurate portrayal? Yes.

BRIAN JETT

Venice

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Lowry lists some of the ways “The West Wing” is attacking the media. And guess what, those instances are all problems that the news media has. The media do focus on women’s hair. They tend to get manipulated by the moment. And they love gossip and scandal. So instead of attacking Sorkin for not seeing the news media as “principled and dedicated,” Lowry might have pointed out that we’re now getting a far more nuanced view of how the media interact with government.

TIM TRUBY Redondo Beach

In his charitably brief exposition regarding the press’ right to be skeptical of government actions (“In ‘24,’ Commercials Run Like Clockwork,” Nov. 16), Howard Rosenberg completely ignored the fact that former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson’s principal point was not the press’ right to be “skeptical” but rather its almost pathological cynicism and manipulation of the news.

He concludes the piece by quoting University of Missouri media critic Geneva Overholser, who teaches at the University of Missouri, as saying: “We’ve got to be giving people information they need, which isn’t always a popular thing to do.” Of course everyone would agree that we need information, but as for popularity of the press, the real issue isn’t about its freedom to gather and report news, it’s really all about how the press cynically uses what is purported to be a straight news story as a vehicle to expressing barely disguised personal-political views on the subject.

PETER MacKINNON

Los Angeles