Fred Basset, we hardly knew ye
| Monday, Dec 19 2011 04:00 PM
Last Updated Monday, Dec 19 2011 04:00 PM
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Arthur: Not everyone was thrilled with our change on the comics page:
Readers:
How many complaints did you get about the unreadable preview [last Sunday] of Cul de Sac printed microscopically over Herb Benham's article??
I even tried a microscope and couldn't see enough to make sense of it.
-- Bobbie Hulson
This comic stinks!
-- Barb Fleming
Cul de Sac... Are you serious? This is pathetic, but it does go along with some of the others you have on the page. I can't believe you would add this to your Comics section and remove Family Circus, probably one of the best ever cartoons.
-- Phyllis Smith, Bakersfield
How could you take a family oriented cartoon "Fred Basset" out of the comic section and replace it with such a sick looking, and certainly NOT funny cartoon as "Cul de Sac"?
How utterly stupid!!
-- Alice Manalo
Did the person who picked the new "cartoon" "Cul-de-Sac" have his frontal cortex in a blender? Why not pick something enjoyable as a cartoon, or something funny. Look at some other papers. There are plenty of good cartoons out there. Is it a matter of money? Your readers need an explanation as to why this particular one was chosen.
-- Tom Crandall, Tehachapi
Arthur: A few points:
* Negative reaction to the change was minimal. The letters above represent most of the complaints.
* We plead guilty to having the strips presented in too-small type on the Eye Street cover last Sunday. We goofed.
* We looked at dozens of new and not-so-new comics and selected Cul de Sac. It has been growing in popularity around the country and seemed to offer something different for our pages.
* I would hardly go so far as to call Fred Basset "family oriented" -- it was about a dog. We replaced it with a family-oriented strip.
* Our frontal cortex wasn't in the blender this week.
***
Reader: On the weather page,
(1) why do you print only the high and low temps of the previous day in U.S. cities but not the precipitation totals, like the L.A. Times and many other dailies? Temperatures are only half the weather.
And (2) why don't you print the high and low humidity of the previous day in Bakersfield? Saying that the humidity was 47% is like saying the previous day's temperature was 83. That has no meaning.
And (3) why are the nation's cities so unevenly presented? Why Omaha, Pierre, Lincoln, Sioux Falls, and Sioux City -- most of them small cities clustered together in the nation's midsection -- while leaving out major cities like Louisville, Jacksonville, and Charlotte?
Alabama and Mississippi have no representative at all. How about Jackson and Birmingham? Your coverage is spotty.
Finally, (4) why not give the exact rainfall totals in hundredths of inches -- a universal practice -- on the Kern weather map instead of rounding to the nearest tenth? If it rains .04 or .03 or .02 or .01 inches in Shafter, Shafterites don't want to be informed it didn't rain at all -- as has often happened. Can you fix these things?
In many other respects, incidentally, you have a very fine weather page. For that I thank you.
-- Stafford Betty, Bakersfield
Arthur: Weather page complaints are not unusual. But this is the most comprehensive complaint we've seen lately.
I can't even begin to address all these separate issues. But we'll make a New Year's Resolution:
Early in 2012 we'll tackle your questions one-by-one and when we're done we'll report back.
In the meantime, if anyone else has weather page issues, now is the time to speak up.
***
Reader: Regarding the two pages of coverage last Monday about the Toy Run:
What an uplifting story, Bakersfield is truly a giving town of giving people.
Although your choice of one picture on page 9 leaves a lot to be desired: a woman, nose pieced, ears pieced and a stinking cigarette hanging out of her mouth. What a great way to portray the people of Bakersfield !!!!!!! "Naughty... NO... nasty"
-- Rick Ray, Bakersfield
Photo Director Alex Horvath responds:
I am sorry that Rick is offended. Motorcycle culture comes in many forms. Some folks are businessmen and lawyers with gleaming Harleys, others are more eccentric in their appearance. The lady in question attracted our veteran photographer, Felix Adamo, and I think her photo shows the diversity of the participants in this event. This feedback forum is designed to give readers a way to voice criticisms and compliments or ask questions about news coverage. Your questions -- which may be edited for space -- are answered each Sunday by Executive Editor John Arthur. Sound Off
