floor Covering Kus, Inc.
WAREHOUSE
CLEARANCE
SALE
ARTHUR J. MAGIDA SENIOR WRITER
CARPET • VINYL
Full Rolls • Part Rolls
Remnants • Area Rugs
2258 Franklin Road, Bloomfield Hills, Ml 48302
1 block East of Telegraph, North of Square Lake Road
332-9430
SALE ENDS OCT. 30, 1993
Congoleum
BEST NO-WAX
SCUFF-TUFF
INLAID VINYL FLOOR
SALE
$ 24 sr..
TRIUMPH
$22 no. 7,3V0
CELESTIAL $ 24 sr.. zoo
DIMENSIONS $ 1 9"
SQ.YD.
ESTEEM
REG.
$28.50
•SCUFF-TUFF Wearlayer
Virtually Eliminates Scuffs
FIRST QUALITY
PLUS
WAREHOUSE CLEARANCE SALE
ON EVERY ROLL OR REMNANT
IN OUR STOCK, YOU
2/1111 10
SAVE 40 to 70% NOV.
gg FRANKLIN FLOOR COVERING
5
2258 FRANKLIN RD.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS
LAKE HD. 332-9430
Media Fairness
Is Weighed In A Study
Mon. & Wed. 9-7
Tue., Thur., Fri. & Sat. 9.5
onservative Catholic and
evangelical leaders envy
media sensitivity toward
Jewish religion and cul-
ture, according to a new study
of media coverage of religion.
Among the findings of a nine-
month study by the Freedom
Forum Media Studies Center
in Arlington, Va., was that
many right-wing Christians be-
lieve the media treats them
with a degree of scrutiny and
skepticism that is never focused
on Judaism and Jewish orga-
nizations. Rabbi Harvey Fields
of Los Angeles agreed, saying
that he had rarely encountered
bias against Jews in news cov-
erage.
But he also was critical of
what he assessed as most re-
porters' low level of sophistica-
tion and their lack of
preparation for a news story.
"Religion coverage tends to
group all Jews into the same
bag and does not distinguish be-
tween the various theological
movements," said the senior
rabbi at the Reform Wilshire
Boulevard Temple. "Very often
what we get is a caricature of
Jewish life reflecting either the
peculiarities of our right or pe-
culiarities of our left — not a
balanced view."
But "a lot of [media] bias"
was detected by Bunie Veeder,
director of broadcasting for the
Jewish Theological Seminary
in New York. For instance, she
said, journalists have a pen-
chant for reporting clashes be-
tween blacks and Jews, and not
the many quiet efforts around
the country to improve black-
Jewish harmony.
The Freedom Forum study
was based on a survey an-
swered by almost 1,000 clergy
and journalists and on more
than 50 interviews.
Other findings included:
• An "unhealthy distrust" ex-
ists between clergy and jour-
nalists. Religious figures "fear
being misunderstood and mis-
represented;" journalists fear
"making mistakes and incur-
ring religious wrath." Resulting
apprehensions "inhibit the free
flow of information and only
add to misunderstanding."
• Newspapers and broad-
casters "largely refuse to take
religion seriously." One indica-
tion of this was unearthed by a
survey of press coverage of re-
ligion by David Shaw, a Los An-
geles Times media critic, who
determined that newspapers
C
devote far less space to religion
coverage in one week than the
average paper devotes to sports
in one day.
Another indication was that
of the 200 members of the Reli-
gion Newswriters Association,
less than 70 cover religion full-
time.
The Freedom Forum recom-
mended:
• That journalists "take reli-
gion seriously" and increase
their resources devoted to it. Re-
ligion beats can be expanded "in
name and concept;" TV "should
seek inventive ways to handle
religion news;" and religion
"should be a major news beat in
the Bible Belt."
• That clergy "learn what
journalists consider newswor-
thy and communicate religious
actions and events that fit that
definition;" "be more accessible
to the press;" commit "greater
financial resources to establish
effective communications of--
fices;" and "take responsibility
for correcting misinformation."
Presumably, these and oth-
er recommendations would cor-
rect the study's conclusion that,
while 90 percent of Americans
say they believe in God or a
higher power, "many journal-
ists are tone deaf to religious
matters. To them, religion ... is
either a disturbing cacophony
of sounds or innocuous back-
ground music easily tuned out."
Few In U.S.
Followed Peace News
About twice as many Ameri-
cans closely followed news last
month about President Clin-
ton's health care reform pro-
posals than about the historic
accord between Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organi-
zation, according to a poll by the
Times Mirror Center for the
People and the Press.
The Washington center dis-
covered that 49 percent of
Americans read or watched
news about health care reform
compared to the 23 percent who
paid particular attention to the
peace pact.
The poll determined that the
Mideast developments was the
fifth most closely watched news
event in September and the
174th most closely followed sto-
ry since Times Mirror began
polling in 1986.
(To put this in perspective,
the percentage of Americans
who followed the peace accords
was one point less than the per-
centage that followed the 1990
NCAA basketball playoff —
and two points higher than the
percentage that followed
Roseanne Barr's controversial
singing of the national anthem
at a San Diego Padres baseball
game in 1990.)
In addition to health care,
other stories that attracted
more attention than the
Mideast pact last month were:
• The Amtrak train wreck in
Alabama (40 percent followed
it closely).
• The U.S. economy (37 per-
cent).
• And, murders of tourists in
Florida (36 percent).
Ranking lower than the
peace accords were the debate
Residents of the
East were more
interested than
those in the West
(28 percent vs.
21 percent).
about NAFTA (the North
American Free Trade Agree-
ment), Boris Yeltsin's dissolu-
tion of Russia's parliament, Vice
President Gore's program to re-
form the federal government
and passage of the National
Service Act.
In its breakdown of those
who followed the peace accords,
Times Mirror reported:
• Hispanics were more in-
terested than whites or blacks
(31 percent vs. 23 and 21 per-
cent, respectively).
• Men were more interested
than women (26 percent vs. 20
percent).
• Residents of the East were
more interested than those in
the West (28 percent vs. 21 per-
cent).