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Letter to the Washington Post
Regarding: Misleading or not?
Kiro Velkovski
Dear Sir,
In your recent column titled Ombudsman: Explain
It, Please, by Michael Getler, Sunday, August 5, 2001; Page
B06 you are trying to use a news article to show how to write decent
news articles. So, your example was:
"The next day, a dispatch from Skopje, Macedonia, started
out: "Ethnic Albanian rebels are violating the terms of a new
cease-fire in Macedonia by remaining in areas from which they promised
to withdraw, discouraging Macedonian Slav refugees from returning
to their homes and increasing the risk of renewed fighting, international
observers said."
It would be nice to be true, but there are no "Macedonian
Slavs" in Macedonia. Except if you're not supporting the fact
that there are British Celts in existence. Or maybe Swedish Vikings...
The constituent people of Macedonia are Macedonians. Not some "Macedonian
Slavs". Just ask 2 million people or just look at the census
data from the last fifty years. Not a single self-declared "Macedonian
Slav"... And these "areas from which they promised to
withdraw" were newly occupied areas during the cease-fire.
Two factual errors in one paragraph to serve as an example of proper
reporting? I suggest you to choose your examples more carefully.
Best regards,
Kiro Velkovski
Skopje, Macedonia
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