What the Globe's readers are saying
ONE OF THE ombudsman's duties at the Globe is to produce a weekly internal report of questions, complaints, and (occasionally) compliments from readers. The report, which is titled, ''What They Say," is distributed to all Globe journalists and executives. Globe employees frequently say they appreciate reading the varied reader comments on everything from frustrations with delivery to changes in the comics pages to the wording of a headline, story, or photo caption. Complaints about the ombudsman's columns are also included.
Sometimes these comments lead to corrections, new story ideas, or maybe even changes in how the Globe operates.
Because I think readers would benefit, this column from time to time will offer a mini-version of ''What They Say." More reader feedback will also be regularly posted to the ombudsman's weblog on boston.com. Some of these comments have been lightly edited. Some readers wanted only their first names published.
Your explanations for the decrease in the number of corrections in 2005 from 2004 missed the glaringly obvious explanation: There were fewer corrections because you published fewer articles (ombudsman's column, Jan.15). In any case, I would suggest to you that the difference in the number of corrections is so small as to be meaningless.
Michael Miller
Suffolk University
Hardly a day goes by without our copy of the daily Boston Globe containing several photographs in which the colors are not in proper register! They are thus very blurry and difficult to appreciate. Please see what you can do to have this annoying problem corrected!
Art Borman
Framingham
Unfortunately, Tom Oliphant was the only reason I read The Boston Globe in any depth. While I'm likely to scan the local news, I'm afraid you've lost a reader. Why tell you this? To give the people who run your paper a sense of mistakes they are making when they offer buyouts to their most expensive staff people.
Judith Feinleib
Belmont
(Note: Oliphant took a voluntary buyout last month and is no longer a Globe columnist. He may write occasional freelance essays for the paper.)
Nowhere in this story (''Bush launches a bid to justify domestic spying," Jan. 24) does the Globe explain what types of communication were allowed to be intercepted by the government as part of this alleged ''domestic spying program." Why not?
How can you so confidently label the program as ''domestic spying" in both your headline and lead sentence, yet explain nothing about the criteria used by the government to select communication for interception? People who were uncertain of your commitment to objective reporting might find this symptomatic of what is popularly called ''liberal bias."
Harry Forbes
Dedham
Don Aucoin's piece (''The Pornification of America," Living/Arts, Jan. 24) seemed a well-reasoned look at an important topic. But I strongly object to the very large, ghastly representation of the Statue of Liberty as a pole dancer, which might have seemed bold and provocative to the Living/Arts staff, but which struck me as tasteless at best and insulting to your readers at worst. I'd expect this kind of graphic from a local TV station during sweeps, not from New England's newspaper of record.
Jonathan Ostrowsky
Newton
I am writing to express my anger over the article (''7 adopted children die in fiery car crash," Jan. 26). What possible relevance does the fact that these children were adopted have to the story? Did being adopted lead to the crash? Will the family grieve less? If this information is relevant for the victims, what about the others in the story? For all we know the bus driver involved was adopted, or perhaps the children on the bus who were injured.
Kathy PlazakBoston
(Note: the story was written by the Associated Press; the headline by a Globe editor.)
I wanted to let you know I'm canceling my subscription to the Globe because I'm tired of reading all the bad and negative news. Can't you make it a policy to offer one positive story everyday on your front page or on the front of a section?
Sheila
New Hampshire
Mark LeVine's column (op-ed, Jan. 26) was breathtaking. I have never written to you -- this is the first thing I have read in years that demanded a response. Let's hear it for a fresh, hard-nosed proposal that is as difficult to implement, as it is appropriate to the situation. All the easy and palatable solutions have the unfortunate drawback of not working.
Robert
Brookline(The essay, written by a professor at the University of California, Irvine, called for consideration of a truce with the Muslim world.)
The ombudsman represents the readers. His opinions and conclusions are his own. Phone 617-929-3020 or 929-3022. His e-mail address is ombud@globe.com. 
