Story on Trump visit to Durham missed the point

Jan. 2 −To the Editor:

I’ve been a subscriber to Foster’s for several years, and I’ve been happy with the nonparitsan reporting on local and national events. However, I’m writing to register my disappointment with the poor editorial judgement, almost to the point of bias, in Foster’s coverage of Donald Trump’s visit to Durham recently. In his speech, the former president quoted Vladimir Putin, approvingly paraphrased Adolf Hitler in complaining that immigrants “poison the blood” of the US, condemned Governor Sununu--the most prominent member of his own party in this state!--and made inflammatory attacks on many other people. These points made the headlines in many national publications, including the right-leaning Daily Mail. They certainly would have been of interest to the Seacoast community, where many people voted for Chris Sununu and there are many immigrants and presumably no one likes Adolf Hitler.

But how did Foster’s cover the story? With the front-page headline “Some young voters like Trump’s economic pitch.” Really, that was what the editors thought was most newsworthy for the readers on the Seacoast? I recognize this piece was written by a national USA Today reporter − but this was surely one of the most important political events happening in our area that day (if not, why make it a front-page story). So why not assign a Seacoast reporter to the story? And why run an analysis piece instead of an actual news report on what just happened in our own area? This is so detached from the reality of the rally that it almost seems like a deliberate attempt to downplay the extremism that was just exhibited in our community.

Please reconsider this editorial judgment in the future.

Will Smiley Durham