Generalizing is generally a bad idea

This is a correspondence I had with a reporter from the National Post regarding a terrible lead paragraph from a story in yesterday's paper.

The standoff between Iran and the West over the Islamic nation's nuclear program is mostly a diplomatic situation that means little to average citizens.

I wrote:

Dear Ms Thorpe,

You framed a recent article on surging oil prices by suggesting that the stand-off between the West and Iran means little to the average citizen, but for the rising price of oil. And yet there were several pages of coverage--including the front page lead--in that same edition of the National Post; evidence, in my mind at least, that your editors believe these events are important to ordinary citizens like myself. They were right, and you were wrong. In the future, please refrain from insulting and demeaning the intelligence of "average" people when looking for a compelling lead for your stories.

Sincerely,


Ryan Kinrade
Winnipeg

Ms Thorpe replied:

Actually, my editors were wrong that day because they completely rewrote the
original story I submitted. It doesn't happen often but when it does they
can really turn it into a doozy. As you can imagine I was not too happy.

(original below)

The global economy barely shrugged when oil prices surged 250% to more than US$60 per barrel between 2002 and 2005 but the rise beyond US$70 could be harder to absorb.

My response:

Yikes! My apologies, your lead is far more rational, if less scintillating. I hope you will inform your editors that heavily biased leads that editorialize about what the "average citizen" believes and thinks about diminish the value of the rest of the article. If a story tells me right off the top what I'm thinking, and it is dead wrong, I will believe that the writer did not do his/her homework. As a result I will not take the rest of the information presented seriously, having judged the reporter to be an opinionated know-nothing and a lazy researcher. No wonder I don't pick up your paper that often.