University of Virginia Library

'Yellow Editorial'

The purpose of this letter is not
to question your integrity or
motives Many times this semester I
have seen editorials or articles that
have contained untruths, but your
editorial on Tom Doran in the
October 22 issue has broken my
silence. This is a piece of "yellow
journalism", full of deceit. The
purpose of this letter will be to
remind you of the tremendous
responsibility of your position and
to urge you to present in you paper
uncolored, unbiased, factual
reporting.

You have made a hero of Tom
Doran. Let me tell you about your
hero. He has been convicted for
violation of the Selective Service
Act and sentenced to three years in
jail. He is appealing the conviction.
He has been convicted of cursing a
police officer and destroying University
property. He is not appealing
either. He has been indicted for
perjury, a felony, and comes to trial
December 10. You said, "Mr.
Doran hasn't been convicted of
anything lately." That's not true.

You said, "His parents have not
been permitted to visit him". There
are visiting hours from 2:45 to 3:00
on Saturday. In case of emergency,
special permission can be arranged
for parents. He can see his doctor,
lawyer or preacher anytime. Just
call the jail and find out the truth.
This time you did not lie, you just
didn't tell the whole truth. His
letters are censored, but he can
send a confidential letter to his
lawyer or his preacher. Again you
failed to present the whole truth.
Why are you bending the information
to make a martyr of Mr. Doran?

Now the question of bond. I'm
surprised Mr. Doran's parents
haven't gotten him released. I could
go down and bail out Mr. Doran. If
you want him out so badly, get five
people with cars registered in their
names and worth $1,000. Are all of
you afraid to risk your cars? I'm
afraid to risk my $5,000. Or is it
that Mr. Doran makes a better
martyr in jail?

If Mr. Doran is convicted on
December 10, that will make him a
liar. We don't tolerate people who
lie, cheat or steal at this University;
at least I didn't think we did. If Mr.
Doran is convicted, I don't see how
anyone can support him.

You are either ignorant of the
facts or have made a deliberate
effort to misrepresent the truth.
Your editorial is a piece of trash.
Don't believe me though, I challenge
you to check me out. I want
you to answer these questions. Did
Mr. Doran's mother and sister really
get fired? If Mr. Doran is not guilty
of lying, why doesn't he prove his
innocence with a lie detector test?

Is everything I have stated in
this article true? Ask Mr. Doran's
lawyer, the Honorable George M.
Coles, Jack Camblos or John
Dudley, but find out the truth not
only about Mr. Doran, but about
everything that goes to print, no
matter how unimportant it is. Then
take the truth and present it fairly.
I don't think I'm asking too much.
I direct your attention to the
phrase in six point type at the top
of your column: "For here we are
not afraid to follow the truth
wherever it may lead, nor to
tolerate any error so long as reason
is left free to combat it". I suggest
you heed Mr. Jefferson's wisdom,
not just quote it.