When I received a sample of The Epoch Times, my conclusion was that the Times was a different kind of newspaper. So, I subscribed. Thus far, my conclusion is that the Times is, indeed, a different kind of newspaper.
I also currently subscribed to The Wall Street Journal. And the Times is a welcome respite from the liberal bias of Matt Murray’s front page section of The Wall Street Journal. However, let me also add that Matt Murray’s bias also extends into The Wall Street Journal’s lifestyle and culture section. In this section, you will find fawning articles written about left-leaning celebrities. Minorities also receive kid-glove treatment. Minority athletes, movie stars, and artists get special treatment—far in excess to their percentage of the general population.
Expecting something different, I read Jill Suttie’s article on sleep, on page one of the Mind and Body section [“Surprising Ways to Get a Better Night’s Sleep,” published April 21]. Lo and behold, I learn that minorities have even worse sleep problems than the rest of us. No other explanation. Jill simply puts out that assertion with no additional justification.
If you truly want to distinguish The Epoch Times from other newspapers, the editor of this section would instruct authors like Jill Suttie to get past the mainstream media’s approach to minorities. Perhaps Jill could give the reader an honest assessment of why minorities have more sleep problems. Is it their habits? Is it their genetics? What lifestyle changes could minorities make to get better sleep?
My larger point is that I can get articles like the one Jill Suttie wrote on sleep by reading The Wall Street Journal. If The Epoch Times wants to be redundant on issues like minority sleep, the Times will find that they have not distinctive place in the pantheon of news outlets.
James A. Stever
