Where's the news?
The four-part series ``The future of TV news,'' Nov. 30-Dec. 3, extensively covers television news programs but gives little attention to public, noncommercial news coverage and doesn't mention public radio at all. I find public broadcasting news of higher quality than any of the big commercial networks the article mentions - and these programs lack commercial interruption. Perhaps the Monitor will yet adequately cover top-quality PBS news programs such as ``The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour'' and ``Washington Week in Review'' - or public radio's ``Morning Edition'' and ``All Things Considered'' There is nothing better on TV and radio. Frank L. Hutchison Las Cruces, N.M.
Network executives wonder why their news programs are not successful. I think they use the word ``news'' loosely. All we get on the networks are headlines, no detail. Educated people want more detail. Just look at the programs that are successful such as ``60 minutes,'' ``Nightline,'' and ``Current Affairs.'' These programs take two or three events and examine them thoroughly. John Meikle Edison, N.J.
Israel in Mideast to stay In the column ``Mideast update,'' Dec. 3, Joseph C. Harsch states that at the Arab League summit in Amman, Jordan, there was an absence of ``agitation for renewed action against Israel.'' He goes on to suggest that Israel is disintegrating from within.
This seems a belated but clear acknowledgment that the Arab goal in the long Arab-Israeli dispute was, and still is, to bring about the downfall of Israel. Is Mr. Harsch admitting, at last, that it is not Israel that is to blame for the woes that plague the Middle East?
The doomsday prophecies regarding Israel's future do not hold water in view of that nation's vibrant society and its world-renowned achievements in science, technology, agriculture, and the arts.
Most observers would see the Amman summit as a significant step forward - an acceptance of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and even a realization that Israel is in the Middle East to stay. Arthur Avnon Consul General of Israel
Boston
Dole for president Bravo on the Bob Dole profile [``Dole: hardened, and softened, by trials,'' Dec. 10]. It is the best story on the Kansas senator I have read thus far. The next president should be a hands-on president: someone with legislative experience who isn't afraid to make the hard decisions. Frank Franz Vienna, Va.