Letters for April 18, 2022

Media consumption

Imagine my pleasant surprise to read the column by Leonard Pitts, “Americans have lost willingness, ability to share a common national identity” and a Dear Annie column, “Depressed by headlines – here’s how to cope” (both published April 11).

Both had a common thread of the need for media literacy in understanding media and critical thinking. Where the “Annie” column talks about feeling helpless from the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the writer asks us to disconnect from social media and limit our exposure to news. Pitts does not ask for reduction of consumption, but rather better education in civics, history, critical thinking, and media literacy along with better policing of social media.

The reality is we live in the most media saturated society in human history but have never learned to become critical viewers or critical consumers of media content. There is much to learn and we are lucky here in Spokane to have the Northwest Alliance for Media Literacy to help.

NWAML is a nonprofit community group at Gonzaga which can provide training and resources to help us become more critical media users who can differentiate between disinformation and misinformation. They have many resources to share and will bring training to other community groups. Check out their Facebook page and their website: nwamedialiteracy.org.

Use media wisely.

John Caputo

Spokane

Thank you to Brad Little

Thank you, thank you, to Idaho Gov. Brad Little for signing a bill outlawing abortion in his state after about six weeks. In so doing, Gov. Little has undone a wrong by late Gov. Cecil Andrus who vetoed a similar bill in 1990. More than 90% of abortions performed in Idaho could have been outlawed had he signed the bill. But Gov. Little did the right thing as he defended life.

My plea is definitely to discourage Idaho women from traveling to Planned Parenthood facilities in Washington state for this horrible procedure.

Patrick Kirlin

Spokane