Make things better

I am pleased to note that The Jakarta Post would consider publishing on national holidays. I refer to your prompt feedback on Jun Sta. Ana's letter of March 26, 1997.

Another writer, Ben Dowson, raised an interesting and pertinent point in his letter Really odd (March 22, 1997). It appears that the Post indeed relishes focusing on some "below the belt" stories, frequently putting such news right on the front page.

If the newspaper is meant to serve the needs of all members in a family including children, then it is time your "add odes" to the male member are pruned drastically.

Availing this opportunity, may I add a few other suggestions as well?

First, at times, it is a great mystery how you manage not to reveal the name of the particular sport in a lengthy news story. If you can insert a small caption identifying the game at the beginning of each sports column, it would help readers decide whether to continue reading the news or skip it altogether, in case the sport is not to their liking.

Second, whenever a five-day cricket match is played anywhere, the readers should be informed about the progress of the game during all the five days -- not the way it is currently reported. For instance, you start reporting on the first two days' play consecutively, fail to report the proceedings of the next two days and come back on the last day, saying that so-and-so country won or lost the test match.

Without a comprehensive follow-through, readers are frustrated by not being aware of what happened during the intervening days of the test match. You might like to look into this area for further improvement.

And last, it is long overdue that the Post start an exclusive feature page catering to the needs and tastes of children, who, by this measure, might be encouraged to get into the habit of reading. We have to open up the vistas of knowledge to the young. After all, today's children are tomorrow's hope.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta