RN&R - Catering to Californians?

So I was out and about today, and I decided to pick up the latest issue of the Reno News & Review. It had a cover story that listed all soldiers who have died so far in the War in Iraq. It is very striking to me that over 3,000 have died fighting in a country where not one of the 9/11 hijackers was from.

However, today is not the day where I give an anti-war rant. The cover is the focus of this blog entry. It has a darkened American flag overlaid by a partial list of the names inside and a pair of unworn Army boots. A small image of the cover is provided at the left, courtesy of the Reno News & Review website.

What caught my eye is that on the partial list, only the names of Californians are bolded. This would not be such a big deal normally, considering that California is only 10 miles away as the crow flies. However, not a single Nevada soldier was highlighted. Take a look at this scan from the front page below; Sgt. Evan Asa Ashcraft of California has his name bolded, but Capt. Joshua Todd Byers of Nevada is not.

I investigated a little bit on the RN&R website and found that the Sacramento News & Review and the Chico News & Review both have the same cover. So the RN&R has been the victim of a recycled cover, as if somebody did not want to do the extra work of making a separate cover that included Nevada's dead soldiers...only California's.

Now, I'm not saying that Nevada's fallen soldiers are more important than California's or vice versa...every one is important. However, for a Nevada audience, Nevada's soldiers should get the respect on the front cover that they deserve. It's as simple as that.

I should note that on the inside, this mistake was not duplicated. I hope in the future that the News & Review team honors our state's fallen soldiers by highlighting their names on the cover as a testament to how the war affects all of us.

~ Deep Blue

Edit: I guess this might take me out of the running for RN&R's "Best Local Blogger" award.