News Coverage Of UC Race Was Not Impartial

To the editors:



I was dismayed by the lack of professionalism The Crimson displayed in its Dec. 5 election-day issue. While I recognize The Crimson’s prerogative to endorse any candidate of its choosing, its use of additional prime headline space to plug John Voith and Tara Gadgil was ethically troubling.

In the news story “Edge Shifts As Race For Votes Kicks Off” (continued under the heading “Haddock Slips From Top”), you describe how Voith and Gadgil have gained an edge in student opinion due to “two key endorsements from The Crimson and Native Americans at Harvard College.”The fact is that the average reader learned of The Crimson’s endorsement only after reading the much more prominently displayed and ostensibly impartial front-page information, including the article in question. Whatever The Crimson’s reputation as kingmaker, it is untenable to attribute retroactive influence to an endorsement many have yet to read. Furthermore, with no objective data to back its claim that Haddock has fallen off the pace, The Crimson has entered the dangerous realm of manufacturing news.



DANIEL A. KAHN ’06

December 5, 2005