On national issues, checking facts is not just the most important thing a journalist can do, it is the most patriotic. The Associated Press failed when it grossly underreported the numbers of New York protest marchers Aug. 29. Unfortunately, the figure has been widely disseminated to smaller papers, such as the Sun Journal, that rely on information services such as the AP.

My husband and I marched in New York City that day with Military Families Speak Out. At the end, we stayed to watch all the subsequent marchers until 5 p.m., when we had to leave. At that point, we still had not seen the last of the marchers. The estimate of 400,000 was reached before all the march had ended, with a final estimate of 500,000.

Most of those marchers were average, hardworking families who had to really struggle to get there. It means something when half a million middle-class people are so motivated by worry and concerns for America that they will make that sacrifice, but it remains meaningless in the minds of those citizens who don’t know about the march or understand the concerns.

American citizens cannot make sound decisions without correct facts. The shoddiness that is passed off as journalism is responsible for the deaths of 975 U.S. soldiers and many thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. More is yet to come, at great cost to the soul of America.

The AP owes an apology and correction to American citizens, via local papers.

Carole Whelan, Hope

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