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Sunday, March 19, 1995     Page: 8B

You can’t trade honesty for ratings
   
I’ll write this column, if you promise not to mention it to anyone. I don’t
want to give the man any more press if I can help it — because I know that
only encourages himSaying that, I can remain silent no longer.
    I’ve known for a while now that Fred Vopper, a.k.a. Fred Williams, was
building a listening base through his opposition to building a county arena.
But I have to be honest, I hadn’t listened to him.
   
After all, I had learned during my arrest several years back that Vopper
had no driving desire to tell the truth if colorful tales would be more
interesting radio. (Just as background, four of us at the newspaper were
arrested for publishing a taped conversation with Glen Wolsieffer, who has
since been convicted of murdering his wife. The charges were later dropped.
This was my first experience on the Vopper Channel.)
   
My listening forays started innocently enough one Monday when I was told
that Vopper had been dissecting me all morning. To keep up with the most
recent inaccuracy Vopper was spreading, I admit I tuned in. And I’ll admit
I’ve tuned in again a time or two.
   
I’ve worked my way up to about a seven-minute tolerance. At that point, the
rolling nausea starts up, and I have to turn the radio off. I’m sure I can
improve that time with effort and practice, but I’m not sure there’s much
incentive.
   
I already know what Vopper is doing: Without any concern as to the impact
on the community — if there is any — Vopper has seized on the arena topic
for one reason. And one reason only.
   
He needs ratings for his radio show.
   
And to all of you who ask, “What’s wrong with that?” I have a simple
answer.
   
What if The Times Leader did the same thing with our thousands of readers
that Vopper does with his several listeners?
   
What if our news decisions were based on selling newspapers instead of
honest coverage of our community?
   
Without breaking any laws, we could, for example, decide to cover messy
divorce trials as juicy local news.
   
Spread our community’s dirty laundry across the front page? We could.
Publish the names of victims of incest and sexual assault? We could.
   
Would it sell newspapers? Probably it would.
   
Would I feel proud as the editor of a newspaper trying to strengthen our
community? I don’t think so.
   
And, eventually, you would recognize the unfair, unsavory nature of our
news coverage. Eventually, I think we would go out of business unless someone
developed a cover to hide a newspaper when it is bought — like the
brown-paper wrapping that covers my friend’s mail-subscription Playboy.
   
But by then, I’d be gone. I’d take the money made by the newspaper during
its sensational heyday of news coverage. I’d find a new job in some town where
nobody knew me.
   
And that’s where I’d probably run into Fred Vopper — with his new radio
name.
   
Allison Walzer is vice president and editor of The Times Leader.