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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Letters to the Editor
Media Bias
To the editor: I read with interest Tracy Everbach’s column (“The Muddy Waters of Race,” Sept. 7, 2005). I grew up wanting to be a news anchor, but after working as a producer during the 2000 presidential election and the events of Sept. 11, 2001, I didn’t want to be in the media any more. I couldn’t leave it totally, however, and I still work part-time in radio and television.
I commend you for speaking out about the bias in the newsroom. The coverage of Hurricane Katrina put that bias on Front Street (although bias is just one item on a long list of things the storm revealed about America). My voice was little and not loud enough to speak out at that time, and I needed my job to make a living. But I’m glad someone is speaking up about it. Thank you.
Talia S. Dancer
Fort Worth
Islam in Retrospect
To the editor: I was happy and sad to read “Awakening Islam” (Sept. 7, 2005) — happy because it is written by our second-generation “made in America” Muslim, Shomial Ahmad, but sad because the writer failed to produce a fair and balanced report.
She did not check the accuracy of the statements made by Imam Bakhach, Dr. Lalani, or Dr. Khan. Neither did she seek clarification from any board member of Mr. Bakhach’s claim that none of them came to the mosque for several days after September 11. In fact Mr. Bakhach reversed himself when a fellow Muslim reminded him that he had come to the mosque.
The Muslim community of Fort Worth in general and the Islamic Association of Tarrant County (IATC) in particular have been sponsoring and participating in Habitat for Humanity home-building projects for last few years. Mr. Bakhach also represented the IATC.
Shomial Ahmad is a new journalist. It is the moral duty of Fort Worth Weekly editors to guide and mentor her on the ethical aspects of fair and balanced journalism.
Farid Saiyed, President
Islamic Association of Tarrant County
Fort Worth
Editor’s note: The Weekly stands by our story.
Crackpot
To the editor: Hearsay’s comments (Sept. 7, 2005) about the Fort Worth Jazz Festival being about pottery is way off base. If he has ever written anything positive about jazz or festivals, I haven’t read it. It’s not just for jazz lovers. It’s a festival, meaning the atmosphere is festive. If he showed up, he found more than pottery. The many thousands of people who attended didn’t object to the pottery — they just enjoyed the music.
Robert L. Berry, Jr.
Fort Worth
Gas Reflux
To the editor: Your article (“Gas Pains,” Sept. 14, 2005) is focused on the usual not-in-my-backyard attitudes and disruption of lifestyle. It seems to suppose that everybody drinks and swims in city-supplied water that meets stringent standards.
Where I live — and in other small towns where people rely on groundwater from wells — the water table has dropped from 180 to 800 feet. And the water will most likely become polluted. Each of the thousands of wells drilled (and more to come) takes 1.5 million gallons of water mixed with a cement-like powder — and that’s just for drilling. The next step is “fracking,” which takes 4.5 million gallons of water.
The gas and oil isn’t in underground pools waiting to be extracted; it is locked in stone and shale that has to be dissolved with chemicals mixed with water. What happens to the chemicals, salt water, and other toxins? They go into all those big tanks you see everywhere, to be collected by trucks (usually late at night) and pumped back into the ground. I took a drive through Montague County yesterday taking pictures of what Denton County will look like in the future. The royalties collected today will be spent, but who will pay for the clean-up in the future?
Richard Wilkinson
Upper Trinity River Water District board
Ponder
Covering the Cats
To the editor: About the item in Static (“Needed: Map to LaGrave Field,” Sept. 7, 2005): I know reporters from the local paper might not have been at the Cats’ final game, but one of our producers here at Community Cable Television certainly was. Randal Crossman shot the entire game on video and caught the celebration, fireworks, and champagne at the end. We ran highlights on Fort Worth Charter Cable Channel 7. Randal is also the producer of the documentary “Through A Cat’s Eyes,” the history of the Fort Worth Cats, produced this year.
Rick Leal, Producer
CCT Fort Worth
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