Recently, Mr. Weir wrote about the need for community newspapers, and I agree completely.  Many people are fed up with the way large newspapers and network television cover things.  They often report things in a very misleading way and sometimes fail to provide adequate coverage of large events.  Local papers, on the other hand, are willing to print things that the large papers ignore.  Let me illustrate my point.

    We have all heard about stem cell research, but when was the last time you saw a large newspaper or network compare the results of embryonic stem cell research and adult stem cell research?  (Embryonic stem cells come from human embryos, which are destroyed to obtain the cells, whereas adult stem cells come from sources including the person’s own fat cells, blood and bone marrow and cord blood, and placenta left over after a child is delivered.)  When the large papers and networks say anything about stem cells, they usually don’t tell you which kind of stem cells they are talking about.  This is why many people don’t know that there are currently over 70 different diseases that can be treated with adult stem cells.  There are many amazing cases of people who were, for example, paralyzed and are now able to walk because of adult stem cells.  The only thing that embryonic stem cells have done so far is cause tumors. 

     You may be wondering why people keep pushing for embryonic stem cell research since, so far, it has not cured a single person. The reason, sadly, is money.  The way our patent system is, if you cure someone by using his or her own stem cells you cannot make a lot of money off of it.  If, however, you were able to develop an embryonic stem cell line that could cure someone, you would become very wealthy.  Large papers and networks would never tell you that.  Many large newspapers seem to have their own agendas. They often present things in a biased way instead of telling the plain facts and letting the readers form their own opinions based on unbiased data.  Local papers allow citizens to voice their concerns and inform each other about things that the national media basically blacks out.

     Local papers are also more willing to cover events that large television networks tend to shun.  For example, would you believe me if I said that something just as large as the Civil Rights March happens every January 22nd right here in the USA?  You would think something that large would be on the front page of the national newspapers, but it is not.  This annual march, called the March for Life, has been taking place in Washington, DC every year since about 1974.  The people who participate in the March for Life (most of whom are young adults) are doing it because they believe that humans, from the moment their life begins at fertilization, to their natural death, have the right to life and should be legally protected. The March for Life, which is in the middle of the winter, (sometimes in the snow or rain) draws just as many people as the summer Civil Rights March of 1963.

     A national paper would probably never compare the March for Life to the Civil Rights March, but a local paper might.  A local paper also might print something contrasting the success of adult stem cell research to the current failure of embryonic stem cell research.  Local papers are needed to inform citizens about things that the national media cover up.  Watch your papers and see if any of them actually cover the March for Life this year in an unbiased way.

Alisa Marincel – 16 year-old student   
Flower Mound