OPINION: From birthing babies to spilling coffee

Jun. 19—Reader: Yet another old white man giving his opinion on the low birth rate. Way to go, Californian!

— Kathy Harlan, Bakersfield

Peterson: You're clearly referring to Dan Walters' column, "California shifts from baby boom to baby bust," published Thursday.

Kathy, Walters' column largely covered — in brief form — four decades of history that influenced the birth rate in California. He cited and quoted from reports by the Public Policy Institute of California that looked into the state's declining birthrate. He drew on his nearly six decades of experience covering issues in California.

That's what journalists do. We report, conduct interviews, review documents and observe. We often report and write about topics and situations that we have not personally experienced. We're educated to do that. And then if we're journalists who write opinion pieces — columnists — we apply our opinion to those facts. (Not so in the news pages.)

It's not like Walters described his personal experience giving birth — well, that would be front-page news!

----Reader: Let me start by saying I like Leonard Pitts' writing and I agree with many things he says in print. Being a lover of irony, I just had to comment on his article ("Allow teachers to teach the truth," June 17) about how some Republicans don't want students to know African American history (a statement I agree with, by the way). And in the article he confuses Booker T. Washington (the great educator) with George Washington Carver (the great botanist). Thanks Leonard, I'll send you a dry cleaning bill for the coffee I spit out on my shirt laughing!

— Elden Miller, Bakersfield

Peterson: Elden, it sure looks like you're right. I'm finding various citations online that state Washington hired Carver to direct the teaching of agriculture at Tuskegee Institute, and Carver created various products from peanuts and other plants.

Sorry you had to grab a new shirt.

----Reader: Your "cartoon" featuring Dr. Fauci was out of line and totally incorrect. It would have been more factually accurate if the photo of 45 had been inserted instead.

It is disappointing that you have joined the anti-Fauci chorus against the good doctor coming from "right-wing" media of late. You insult the good name and character of a loyal public servant who has given his entire career to serving public health. The fact that he is 80 and still working is amazing.

You have to remember that C-19 was a new situation. They came up with the best advice at the time. In any situation, you review the facts and your response, and then adjust, as necessary. These steps were part of the fight against C-19. Masks for the sick became masks for all due to the facts of the situation.

A journalistic organization, such as your newspaper, should be more concerned with the facts, and less so with politics. Even in a political cartoon there is some basis in fact.

— David J. Milbrodt, Wasco

Peterson: The editorial cartoon you're referring to, which published last Saturday, depicted Dr. Fauci standing in the rain with a broken umbrella that could no longer protect him from words raining down on him. Those words included "misleading America," "conflict of interest," "lies" and "Wuhan connection." Those words are metaphorically "raining down" on him.

Editorial cartoons, by definition, take a side. We strive to select a variety for our readers. That does not mean we "have joined the anti-Fauci chorus against the good doctor," as you suggest, David. (I think it's pretty clear that knowledge about COVID-19 has been rapidly evolving throughout this past year-plus.)

Check out the four editorial cartoons in Saturday's paper. It's pretty unlikely there's a reader out there who agrees with all four! But that's what we do — provide a variety of opinions in the Opinion section.

Executive Editor Christine Peterson answers your questions and takes your complaints about The Californian's news coverage in this weekly feedback forum. Questions may be edited for space and clarity. To offer your input by phone, call 661-395-7649 and leave your comments in a voicemail message or email us at soundoff@bakersfield.com. Please include your name and phone number.