I just sent this letter to the editor to the Ann Arbor news regarding their story today about the U.S. Patriot act forum:

“From: Rob Goodspeed
To: letters@annarbornews.com
Subject: Letter to the Editor – Re: Patriot Act Resolution Forum

To the editor:

I was surprised by the blatantly ideological nature of the Ann Arbor News article June 19 about a forum about the U.S. Patriot act. It seemed that the story had a clear message: the Ann Arbor city council should not pass the proposed Patriot Act resolution.

The fact that a representative of John Ashcroft’s Justice Department might not like the resolution is certainly newsworthy, but unsurprising. Also, I would have liked to hear what the president of the ACLU of Michigan, a well-respected attorney and author, had to say – but the article contained only one brief paraphrase of her comments.

The article doesn’t even approximate balance treatment of the event or a neutral pursuit of truth, instead pursuing an ideological agenda. I hope your newspaper’s coverage of this important resolution improves.

Robert Goodspeed
315 North State Street
rgoodspe@umich.edu”