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By Newsweek Editors
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Furor and Fallout
As a recently returned veteran from Iraq, I wanted to express my outrage at your irresponsible--and ultimately inaccurate--reporting of the alleged desecration of Qur'ans at Guantanamo Bay. Because of your actions, the short-term cost has been the deaths of over a dozen people and injuries to more than 100. We will never be able to calculate the long-term costs, but rest assured it will be measured by increased numbers of anti-American Islamic militants, more suicide bombings and the deaths of brave American men and women who are serving our country abroad. That seems like a pretty hefty price to pay for a story that turned out to have been wrong. My comrades and I have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world with honor. We have always tried to respect the local customs and cultures, and have worked hard and braved rockets, mortars and IEDs to try to help people we will never meet. It would be nice if NEWSWEEK had shown us a little respect by being as diligent with its reporting. I sleep just fine at night knowing that I did my job to the best of my ability and that, at the end of the day, I saved lives. Can you say the same?
Christopher J. DesBarres
via internet
The publication of the article about the supposed desecration of the Qur'an at Guantanamo borders on treason. The actions of your magazine have placed our servicemen and women in peril and directly caused the death or injury of dozens of people. Blood is on your hands, and you should be completely ashamed. Whether the magazine's actions were intentional in order to embarrass the current administration or simply a result of shoddy investigating, they are wholly inexcusable. Two confirmed, named sources prior to publication--is it too much to expect you to adhere to the oldest rule in journalism?
Ken Tharp
West Des Moines, Iowa
Read More on News
I have three sons who serve this country in the military. It pains me to know your magazine would publish something, true or not, that would put our fighting men and women in harm's way. It seems to me your first responsibility is not to be the first to break a story but to protect our men and women in a time of war. You might lose a couple of bucks in sales, but what is that compared with a life? I am truly disappointed and can never feel the same about your publication again.
Linda Price
via internet
I was distressed to see NEWSWEEK fall into the category of sensational and unconfirmed news reporting. I have always looked up to your magazine for its accuracy and sense of responsibility in reporting the truth. I am sorry to see that you have fallen to the level of tabloids and other irresponsible media organizations. For the first time in almost 50 years I will not renew my subscription.
Ramon K. Henderson
via internet
I am outraged at the story printed concerning the Americans' desecrating the Qur'an. You had very little information, yet you chose to print this erroneous story with no regard to the outcome. Your editors should have known that people have been murdered for criticizing or writing disparaging remarks about Islam. Your apology is useless now. You should flush your magazine down the toilet.
Mary Scarda
York, Pa.
My husband is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army who is serving in Afghanistan as an embedded adviser to the Afghan Army. His life has been a living hell since your story broke. As news reporters, you must understand the worldwide impact your stories have. Many people in Third World countries take what is reported as gospel, believing every word without question. Your reporters should have realized this and done a better job of verifying their story before putting the lives of thousands of American soldiers at risk. The vast majority of American soldiers are well trained, professional, respected individuals whose only wish is to help people around the world. This majority is also very respectful of different religions and customs of foreign nations. However, when a story like this breaks, the people who are enraged see every American soldier as the enemy and as a possible target. Why not report on the good things that our soldiers are doing, like building schools and providing necessities to the children of these war-torn countries? How about the midwifery school that our military helped to establish in Afghanistan? Are these stories not sensational enough? All I can ask is to please remember that your stories can put the lives and welfare of our men and women in uniform at great risk. My husband is a wonderful, compassionate man with four children, and we would like to see him come home in one piece.
Kristi Jarrett
Noblesville, Ind.
Forget for the moment the questionable reporting standards. I suggest that it is time for you to look carefully at what you choose to report on. Perhaps it would serve a better purpose to put your efforts into investigating the heinous acts of the terrorists we fight, including the desecration of innocent human life, the beheading of hostages, the vicious anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism, the rabid attacks on Christians and Jews, and a host of other things that are far worse for our country and far more dangerous and brutal to humanity. Why are you at war with America?
Jane Cavolina
Lambertville, N.J.
There have been few times in life that I have felt compelled to write in on a news story. However, your apparent lack of judgment concerning the Qur'an-desecration story left me appalled and, frankly, scared. To think an American news agency would publish a story that would obviously cause such grief and violence is unthinkable. Shame on the reporters, shame on the editors and shame on your company as a whole. For the sake of lives both foreign and domestic, please, please use better judgment now and in future reports.
Robin Drost
via internet
The self-righteous, arrogant Bush administration is so critical of the NEWSWEEK story on the desecration of the Qur'an, but has not shown any responsibility or decency by acknowledging the mistakes, lies and miscalculations in its lead-up to--and invasion of--Iraq, after all its justifications for doing so have been proved wrong. Our image in the world had been damaged very severely by that invasion long before the NEWSWEEK article came out. Our credibility in the world has been damaged by the administration's refusal to take any responsibility for any mistakes or misjudgments that have cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars.
Gerard Burford
Indianapolis, Ind.
I do not find principled reporting to be irresponsible, even if it does lead to angry reprisals. It is not the role of journalists to soft-pedal information to avoid angering people. I do, however, find the Bush administration's organized strategy of propaganda and press intimidation to be highly irresponsible. I encourage you to continue to report on U.S. treatment of political prisoners. This issue is important to our democracy.
Noemie Maxwell
Kent, Wash.
I continue to be amazed at how the Bush administration has managed to shift attention away from its role and responsibility for articulating--at the highest levels--a philosophy that encouraged mistreatment of Muslims. How is it that mostly low-level soldiers have been punished for their treatment of prisoners and Donald Rumsfeld has escaped accountability? How is it that the president is not labeled a liar despite news reports that reveal the depth to which his administration lied to the public to go to war in Iraq? The strength of this country is in its ability to tolerate dissent, and a free press is critical to that strength. Mistakes may be made, but do not let that stop you from reporting. There is no one version of the truth. The mission that NEWSWEEK fulfills consistently is bringing information to Americans, which then enables us to make up our own minds. I am proud to be a subscriber. I am proud to be an American. Thanks for all you do.
Michele Martell
Los Angeles, Calif.
It was not a surprise to see the White House press secretary take NEWSWEEK to task for its comments about the Qur'an's being desecrated at Guantanamo Bay. It's a bit ironic how quickly and tersely the White House reacted, as did many conservative-leaning publications. At least NEWSWEEK apologized for any mistakes it may have made, something we're still waiting for the White House to do after misleading the nation into war. I am renewing my longtime subscription to NEWSWEEK. Consider that my vote of confidence in your publication and the high-quality content your writers provide. As with any detail-oriented business, mistakes get made. It's how you handle them that shows your class or lack thereof.
Jon Eisen
San Diego, Calif.
I'm sorry NEWSWEEK was compelled to retract its comment about desecration of the Qur'an by prison interrogators. There have been other stories in other newspapers and magazines citing the same interrogation techniques, and those stories were never blamed for violence against American soldiers. What the administration is and has been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan are reason enough for the residents of those countries to rise up against the United States. I wish NEWSWEEK had been able to stand by its comments and not cave in.
Sharon Peyser
via internet
I, for one, believe that your original report about the Qur'an's being flushed down a toilet is more credible than the retractions by the sources who gave the information to you. The item was printed as a side story, and I (as a subscriber) did not even notice the story until after the crisis erupted. Pentagon officials have changed their story too late to be believable by the Muslim world or by attentive Americans. NEWSWEEK's treatment of the desecration as a marginal story, and the intensity of violence that erupted because of it, highlights the cultural chasm between the West and the Muslim world. The U.S. government's refusal to acknowledge mistakes only fuels the fire.
Chris Sharp
Tucker, Ga.
Your reporters accurately cite a government official, seek Pentagon confirmation and publish a story in good faith, and the White House, cable news and talk radio come down on you like a ton of bricks. At the same time, the public still can't get a straight story on the decision to go to war in Iraq or the weapons-of-mass-destruction debacle. At least you have the decency to admit the possibility of mistakes, while the White House and its right-wing media friends continue to deny, deflect and distract. I have been a subscriber for 30 years. Sign me up for 30 more.
Richard Casagrande
via internet
Grading Public High Schools
I am an English teacher at one of the high schools that made your top-100 list ("The 100 Best High Schools in America," May 16). If someone asked me what is so good about my school, I doubt I would say it's because a lot of kids sign up and pay to take Advanced Placement classes. Playing with numbers isn't teaching. It's the mock trial of Brutus for which students have to back up characters' testimonies with valid interpretations of the text. It's the math teacher I see helping kids with tangents and cosines during his planning period almost every day. I am all for AP courses; I believe many schools lack solid curricula in some subject areas, and AP seems like one good way to address this. But saying that participation in AP courses enhances a kid's chances of success in college is one thing; saying schools are great simply for recruiting AP test takers is quite another.
Steven D'Addieco
Pittsburgh, Pa.
I am a senior at Newport High School, which placed 32nd in the ranking of best high schools in America. My experience has led me to believe that the ratio used to determine the list does not necessarily distinguish the "best" schools. I was not surprised to see the high ranking we got, considering that the administration is always pushing for students to enroll in numerous AP courses--regardless of their capabilities. This AP emphasis has left many unqualified students in advanced classes. They end up either slowing down the class, failing the course or both. Why not use a nationally accepted test such as the SAT--or, perhaps, the results of the AP tests--to determine how effective a high school is at educating its students? If the current ratio of AP tests taken divided by the number of graduating seniors must be used, then a new title that more accurately describes the results should label the rankings. But hey, the list places my high school in the top third of the nation. Why am I complaining?
David Hendrickson
Bellevue, Wash.
Although there are several different criteria by which to measure the quality of public high schools in America, I have to agree with Jay Mathews's emphasis on AP and International Baccalaureate testing rates. As a 2002 graduate of the IB program at Eastside High School (No. 4 on the list of best high schools), I can attest that the rigorous curriculum of an AP/IB student provides an outstanding foundation for college success. The critics of such "standardized" curricula would likely find that these students have just as many "normal" and "fun" high-school experiences as other students--though the month leading up to AP and IB exams may have been more stressful than any month I have spent as an undergraduate. I wish more students would take advantage of the opportunities that AP and IB courses have to offer.
Cary Smith
Gainesville, Fla.
I was so pleased to see that Dreyfoos School of the Arts was ranked 20th--especially since my daughter is a junior there. It's ironic that for the last three years, this outstanding school has had to fight to keep teachers funded through personal donations from the students' families, fund-raisers and such. The shortfall gets greater each year: of a desired total of $600,000 this year, about $300,000 has been raised. Meanwhile, the state legislature is breaking its collective neck trying to figure out ways to fund a Florida Marlins stadium to the tune of $60 million.
Harold Watty
West Palm Beach, Fla.
You should print an expose on "America's Worst High Schools," so that our elitist friends in government can finally see the reality of American education--a reality where money, and not AP classes, is the difference between dropping out and making the grade.
Michael Snyder
Rolling Hills, Calif.
While AP-type tests are certainly one among many measures of a high school's quality, a better measure would include the scores on these tests--not just the number of tests taken. Anyone can take a test. The impressive data in your survey involved high schools with a high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-cost lunches. These schools, by achieving positive outcomes with low-income students, are to be commended.
Andrea E. Kirkman
Riverside, Conn.
How about ranking schools on the basis of how well they help students prepare for life? Along with weighing IB and AP indicators, we might consider the number and quality of career-tech programs, availability of career counseling and opportunities for school-directed internships and community-based experiences. Maybe our best high schools are those that help all students prepare to reach meaningful economic and life goals--via college or other professional-development options. Having taught at one of your top 100 and at the university level, I can attest to both the value of AP and IB coursework and the need for programs that bring meaningful learning to the other 90 percent of students.
James R. Gleason
Columbus, Ohio
Any national education system that results in two thirds of its students' dropping out or not finishing with the skills they need clearly warrants massive public review. All the high schools listed by NEWSWEEK are obviously educating some of their students well. But less than 60 percent of high schools participate in the AP program, and fewer than 500 schools offer an IB diploma. Of the 100 best high schools cited, many are considered by the Department of Education as "in need of improvement"--mostly because some of their students are not making adequate yearly progress. Even more important, this report does not factor in the students who are admitted into the ninth grade but drop out. Certainly students need rigorous courses. But they also need caring, well-trained teachers; effective programs to help raise their literacy levels; individual plans that help them achieve their academic objectives; personalized learning centers; relevant curricula, and a variety of other supports that will make the difference between success and failure.
Bob Wise, President
Alliance for Excellent Education
Washington, D.C.
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