Kudos for Columns

Congrats to City Paper on the 35 years! Given the sad shame into which the Sun has fallen, maybe it better qualifies as the “alt-daily” paper. Take for example Brian Morton’s wonderful dissection of the Trayvon Martin matter in the March 28 issue (Political Animal). It’s the best article I have seen anywhere on the matter,

The Sun has a much longer article in which “Md. leaders” offer clichéd shallow nostrums like “another of God’s children” or “have a heart to heart” with your son. Nowhere are any real solutions discussed.

I believe most media is incapable of really shedding light on the most serious problems, because all is so shallow and profit/ad-driven and seems to attract writers who must rein in human feelings. TV, except for Democracy Now, is still a wasteland. Radio, except for Marc Steiner on WEAA-FM, has nothing to offer in that WYPR-FM tries mightily to stay away from opinion and the AM stations (such as WBAL or WCBM) only offer right-wing rants.

But in Morton’s City Paper column we get a presentation of the several culprits in the Martin case—the NRA, or ALEC, the right-wing legislation group—and we can hear about “Stand Your Ground” laws that have actually increased homicides in Florida.

Aren’t the politicians even more criminal than a George Zimmerman, in that they have the power to hurt many, and do? They should be at least voted out—if not charged—in Florida. And in Maryland, we obviously need to defeat HB 45-Conceal/Carry.

So, much gratitude and keep up the good (and life-saving, in this instance) work.

David Eberhardt

Baltimore

Thank You for Fact Checking

We just wanted to thank you for a wonderful article, and for “fact checking” (“Primary Sources,” Arts and Entertainment, March 28). I learned something from your process!  Anyway, it means a lot to us here at CoLab to be noted in such a great newspaper.

Alexa Mills

Massachusetts Institute of Technology CoLab

Cambridge, Ma.