WORLD reader Bobbi Graffunder of Altoona, Wis., agreed with the basic thrust of our June 29 item criticizing the major media's continuing focus on the abduction case of Utah teen Elizabeth Smart, but not on the case of an African-American 7-year-old who disappeared on her way to school in Milwaukee.

WORLD called attention to an article by Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post: He took to task other media outlets for the coverage disparity but not his own paper, which was at least as guilty.

While most TV stars come and go in a few months or years, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw have been America's anchorman trio since 1983. Mr. Brokaw, who took a long vacation last summer and spurred retirement rumors, is the first to renounce his media royalty. He announced he would retire after the presidential election in 2004, and NBC made the totally unsurprising announcement that his long-time heir apparent Brian Williams would take over.

"BUSH KNEW," read the New York Post's headline on the morning of May 16, conjuring up the shocking impression that the president had known the Sept. 11 attacks were coming, but did not move to prevent them. The next day, a Post editorial denigrated the impression the paper left as "pernicious nonsense," pointing out that during a routine briefing Mr. Bush was told "merely that there was reason to suspect a bin Laden plot to hijack American planes. There was no specific date mentioned, no specific target, no specific airline."

Five years ago, the U.S. government and Fidel Castro agreed to let CNN open a news bureau in Havana, the first permanent American news presence in almost 30 years, with the understanding that "news-gathering activities within Cuba be unconditioned and unrestricted." Sen. Jesse Helms supported the CNN presence, saying Mr. Castro was accepting "the rope with which to hang himself."

Exhibit A: The Baltimore Sun reported that a "right-wing leader" was shot to death in the Netherlands. The New York Times referred to the slain politician as a "rightist"; the Austin American-Statesman called him "far-right." The story concerned "an openly gay former sociology professor," Pim Fortuyn, who opposed immigration and was poised in his race for the Dutch presidency to gain up to one-third of the vote.

Who is the religious left's favorite person this year? Peter Jennings. The liberal Interfaith Alliance plans to honor the ABC anchorman on June 12 with the "Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award" in a ceremony at Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

In the publicity surrounding the award ceremony, Mr. Cronkite took a shot at religious conservatives, saying that the Interfaith Alliance is "dedicated to protecting America's basic freedoms of speech, press, and religion from the fringe groups who cloak in religious garb their challenge to these principles."