Bankruptcy News Is Not Balanced

Times columnist Dana Parsons is far too hard on Orange County schools Supt. John F. Dean, who decried the “media feeding frenzy” since the Board of Supervisors’ bankruptcy pronouncement on Dec. 6. Parsons maintains in his Jan. 22 column that “the media has more than honored its compact with Orange County readers.”

As a seasoned newspaper professional, Parsons is welcome to his opinion, just as he allows that Dean is welcome to his opinion. As a reader of the Orange County edition of The Times for 23 years and as an observer of Orange County for that period of time, I have to agree with Dean that the media has way overdone the bankruptcy coverage.

Moreover, I feel that the media, in its honest desire to cast light on the bankruptcy, has bent over backward to uncover every possible negative implication. I have emerged from presentations on the bankruptcy convinced that I have heard 95% of the program to say that the bankruptcy will have little lasting effect on most of Orange County, only to read in the media the next day--with large headlines--the 5% which was somewhat negative.

Parsons maintains that “the acid test is that I have the sense that Orange County readers are very much up to speed on the situation.” Sorry to disagree, Mr. Parsons, but I find that intelligent Orange County readers are way off base in their understanding of the situation.

Another acid test is why the media have decided to pour on such heavy coverage--to the detriment of covering other news. The answer will be known when we find whether the coverage is submitted for a Pulitzer Prize. If it is, then we understand the media feeding frenzy.

MARTIN A. BROWER

Corona del Mar