Thanks for coverage
Dear Editor:
I wish to express my heartfelt thanks for your approach to coverage of the global pandemic. Your dedication to facts, reliable sources and the common good has been a beacon of light in an otherwise dark media landscape.
I particularly wish to commend you for calling out the “traditional sense of fairness” that has hurt not just our news media, but also our entire country for far too long. Having had direct correspondence with such reporting luminaries as Scott Simon and indirect correspondence with editorial staff at Morning Edition, it is appalling the level of mental gymnastics national news desks perform in order to avoid facing the fact you state so eloquently.
Please, continue in your dedication to factual representations over false balance. When popular online “news” websites advertise for reporters by quoting “Glengarry Glen Ross,” it’s clear we need papers like yours more than ever.
Murray Sampson
Winthrop
A heroic act
Dear Editor:
For many of us, the holidays mean coming home. With all the joys of being reunited with family and friends, you might also be figuring out how to avoid certain topics of conversation with people you love but don’t always agree with. It’s okay if you change the subject when Uncle Ron starts telling you about his most recent alien encounter, but one topic that can’t be ignored if it shows up is impaired driving.
If you’re at a gathering where someone intends to drive impaired, the greatest gift you can give them this holiday season is an alternative to driving. Impaired drivers make up a small portion of drivers on our roads (in a Washington study of nighttime drivers, only 2% of drivers had a blood alcohol content over .05), but impaired driving was a factor in 60% of all traffic fatalities last year.
Most of us agree that it’s unacceptable to drive impaired by alcohol or other drugs, and most of us, when in a situation to intervene, take action to prevent impaired driving. That might look like giving someone a ride, ordering a cab or ride share, letting them sleep on your couch, or even calling 911 if your offers go unaccepted. It might feel uncomfortable to come between an impaired friend and their car, but it’s a heroic act that can save lives. And we can always use more heroes.
Eveline Roy
Target Zero manager,
Region 12 Wenatchee
