University of Virginia Library

Throwing Bricks
From Glass Houses

"Let he who is without sun cast
the first stone."

It would be folly to undertake a
defense of The Daily Progress, but I
can state with assurance that the
local newspaper's staff appears to
have at least a passing acquaintance
with the "inverted Pyramid" from
of news writing. The same cannot be
said for The Cavalier Daily's stable
of Ernest Hemingways, all of whom
seem to be bent on making every
piece printed a combination of
feature, short story, and editorial,
with the most important news
element held back for a "socko"
conclusion.

Once last year, you buried a
proposed Medical School tuition
increase in the final paragraph of an
otherwise pedestrian story about
additions to that School's faculty.
This week; you buried the Rugby
team's ranking as number one in
the Eastern U.S. in the final
paragraph of a sports story', despite
the good sense of the headline
writer in emphasizing that news
item. Your cavalier approach to
news coverage includes last-minute
telephone inquiries at the Sports
Information Office about sports
events you failed to cover.

Perhaps you should reconsider
your "news policies" and make a
commitment to covering the
University the way the great
newspapers at the Universities of
North Carolina, Michigan, and
Minnesota, to mention a few, have
managed to do with consummate
skill and imagination. A little
more "local news" and less copping
out on UPI national wire stories
would go a long way toward
enlivening a very gray daily
wasteland.

Since Holly Smith has the
insight I lack to discern a
substantial difference in quality
between the "old" and "new"
Daily Progresses, and has
established excellent rapport with
some of America's greatest
dissident journalists, perhaps her
insights and those of Karl Runser
can be applied to the needy pages
of The Cavalier Daily. And why not
invite one of America's most
dynamic sports writers and
broadcaster, Chris Cramer, to
conduct a seminar for your sports
staff, or reclaim his rightful place as
Sports Editor of The Cavalier
Daily?