I Object!

I object to reporters writing news stories as though they were starting the great American novel. I object to leads like this one in the LA Times this morning: “It was only 8 a.m., the day after Memorial Day, but the desert sun was already unforgiving. The heat radiated from the desert floor with a glittery sheen as the anthropologist and the team of soldiers set to work.” Overwritten as it is, the lead could qualify for a Bulwer Lytton award. Who would imagine the story is about the military being forced, belatedly, to examine the remains of 10 airmen whose B-24 bomber crashed in the California desert on April 9, 1944? At the time of the crash, the military issued death certificates, and 10 sealed caskets were sent to families for burial. Families were told the bomber crew had been on a training flight, that the bomber had crashed because of pilot error and the cause of death was “dissolution of body”. Within days of the crash, death certificates were issued for each victim, and 10 sealed caskets were delivered to families across the country for burial. The following paragraph, which should have been near the top of today’s story, was buried deep in the middle: “The first bones were found in August 2005 by amateur aviation archeologists whose hobby is to look for World War II crashes. They reported their finding to the Kern County coroner's office, which notified the military.” Now finally, the pit that the bomber made when it spiraled into the desert is being investigated and bones and teeth are being found. And families are wondering what was in the caskets that were buried over 60 years ago. Some have conjectured that the remains were sandbags. Whether any of the families will allow exhumation is an open question. It is, in fact, a fascinating and dramatic story. But it deserved a who-what-when-where-why lead, not a florid voice-over script for a grade-D TV show. And I also object to the following bit of amateur writing which should never have survived an editor’s blue pencil: “Staff Sgt. Keith Burnette was screening a pile of dirt, rocks and trash when he found a molar with a filling and a wisdom tooth attached. The entire team gathered around when Burnette announced what he had found. They examined the tooth like they were admiring a new car and patted Burnette on the shoulder. “ Like they were admiring a new car? H.G. Reza wrote this story. He’s an LA Times staff writer. He’s not a fledgling. He should know better, and the LA Times editors should know better. It’s a badly written piece that seems to leer and ogle rather than report a grim event. However, the topic is an interesting one. And it certainly shows that the military has been lying and doing cover-ups since gunpowder was invented.