Where are CdA’s rainfall figures?

Question: Since The Spokesman Review supposedly serves North Idaho, why don’t you publish the precipitation for Coeur d’Alene and area instead of just the Spokane rainfall. There is quite a difference between the two areas. Also, why are all the letters in the Handle about Spokane issues? Why not publish letters dealing with issues about North Idaho? — Susan Purdy

Answer 1: Thanks for the suggestion on rainfall totals. Adrian Rogers, the editor who handles our weather packages, is checking with our provider, AccuWeather, to determine whether differences support a separate report for Coeur d’Alene. If so, we’ll add that feature, although we’ll probably have to drop something else to make room. — Steve Smith, editor

Answer 2: Actually, we run the same letters in all editions, no matter where they’re from. We do run letters from Idaho and elsewhere in our circulation area — as long as we get them. We have more Washington readers than Idaho readers, so there are more Washington letters. In addition, Washington voters are facing more contested political races than Idaho voters are, making them more energetic about letter writing at present. However, we’re eager to get letters from all of our readers, and we apply the same criteria to all. — Doug Floyd, editorial page editor

What’s with Prickly City?

Question: I’m not a cartoon reader, but I heard the uproar about Prickly City and, of course, checked it out. It’s not a cartoon; the man can’t draw a bean. It’s a political column masquerading as a cartoon. Someone at The Spokesman-Review doesn’t understand the background on this.

Years ago, Doonesbury was removed from the cartoon page as being a political column masquerading as a cartoon. Later came Mallard Fillmore. Cartoon readers noted the unfairness and complained. The decision was made to link Mallard and Doonesbury and send them to editorial page, and now they’re floating around the S-R galaxy, linked like bad children. We all thought that was fair.

Now someone has slipped in another political column called Prickly City onto the cartoon pages, and the balance of the S-R galaxy is once again out of balance. Rather than be labeled a front for the right wing, shouldn’t you remove Prickly City or add another left wing cartoon/political column? What happened to the fairness doctrine? Have recent personnel changes tipped the S-R to the right? — George Thomas, Spokane

Answer: I picked up Prickly City — as did a couple of hundred other editors — before it actually launched and on the basis of about one month’s worth of preview and test strips. Most of us picked it up because there is little out there like it. Socially conservative strips are very, very rare.

The test strips I saw were far more gentle and, frankly, funny, than the strip we’ve seen since launch. At the time, I likened it to a somewhat conservative “Pogo,” a classic strip, now gone, that featured gentle social satire.

We’re going to give Prickly City a bit more time, a couple of weeks, to see how it develops. After that, we have a couple of options. I’m leaning toward dropping it daily, or secondarily, moving it to Classifieds to replace Mallard Filmore, which I don’t think is very good. But we’ll likely keep it Sunday, where it does balance Doonesbury.

To the larger point, I don’t believe that comic strips must be socially or politically balanced panel for panel. For one thing, that sort of juggling act simply isn’t possible with some strips straying occasionally into politics or social issues and taking readers — and editors — by surprise (see recent forays into the culture wars by such non-political strips as Funky Winkerbean and even For Better Or For Worse). In general, I do believe we must strive for balance as best we can throughout the paper, trying to respect the widest range of views. In these times, with passions running as hot or hotter than I’ve ever experienced, the juggling act is becoming tougher and tougher.

As to whether we’re leaning more to the right —- we hear far more from people who think we’re leaning further to the left. Isn’t it just a bit absurd, and frankly silly, to generalize about a newspaper’s bias on the basis of a comic strip? As editors, all we can do is try our hardest to walk the line as we see it, relying on our best judgment, our professional values and ethics. — Steve Smith, editor