Listener Feedback

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, August 30th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Time now for Listener Feedback. We begin with a couple corrections.

First, during our August 15th newscast we reported on the Monkeypox outbreak in Africa … and when we ID’d “the Congo” as the epicenter … we should’ve been more specific in identifying the “Democratic Republic of Congo” when we did.

EICHER: Next, during our missionary pilot training story from August 21st, we mentioned how instructors teach their students how to recover from stalls … but we didn’t get it quite right, as private pilot Dale Fenwick points out.

DALE FENWICK: Great story on the missionary pilot training. However, an aviation stall has little to do with the engine. It’s actually not the engine stalling, it’s the wing and it’s a term that’s used when the airflow is insufficient over the wing, the wing then loses the ability to lift the plane or keep the plane flying and the plane falls. And so recovering from a stall means recovering from loss of lift, which means that you have to straighten the plane out and bring it back to level flight. Okay, other than that great job as usual.

Alright, and of course we fact checked the fact check and I’ll put a link to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association so you can read all about aviation stalls … which are terrifying but good to know about.

BROWN: Next this, and it’s a regrettable misspeak. Back on August 16th. we referred to a proposed cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel, and we made the mistake of saying Hamas would release hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hostages. The mistake, obviously, is that Israel does not take hostages. They offered Palestinian prisoners. Important distinction.

EICHER: Now on to a few questions and other feedback. Staying in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, listener David Deacon sent us this voicemail after a August 12th story:

DAVID DEACON: Hello World and Everything in It staff! First off, I want to thank you for what you do. I'd like to ask though, why you feel comfortable stating casualty figures for Israeli actions in Gaza when the Gazan authorities have such a history of lying and Israel repeatedly objects to their casualty figures. How can anyone know such a thing?

Very good point and that’s why we really try to limit references to death-toll figures there. And when we judge that we need to, we’ll make sure there’s attribution to Gaza’s Health Ministry, so the listener can take it with the appropriate grain of salt.

During the August 12th reporting on the missile strike in Khan Younis, we were reporting on the international response to the strike and failed to mention that Israel had challenged the reported death toll. And we should have.

BROWN: Our next voicemail comes from John Langley, listening in Botswana.

JOHN LANGLEY: One of your news updates covering Iowa's heartbeat bill reported that 14 states now have near total protections for unborn Children. And this story was worth covering. But the framing of it, in my opinion, was a rare miss and a disheartening one.

If I can paraphrase God's word through the prophet Jeremiah: laws that regulate the method and timing of murder are superficial treatment at best. They may stop some bleeding but they don't treat the mortal wound in the heart of our nation. We as Christians ought not invite complacency by preaching peace, peace where there is no peace.

I remain thankful for your God-glorifying works and excellent kingdom focused journalism and God bless you all and may you have mercy on our nation for the sake of his people.

Now an email from a listener in Hawaii who raises a question of style. She points out that the term “Hawaiian” doesn’t fit just any person who lives in Hawaii. That it’s typically an indigenous term, and that we ought to play it safe and say “Hawaii residents.” So we consulted our handy-dandy style guide, and it turns out that both the U.S. Government Publishing Office and the AP Style guide encourage the same terminology.

EICHER: And about our interview a few weeks ago with the Never Trump Republican former presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson: lots of mail came in, and suffice it to say the negative mail vastly outweighed the positive. But this came in from a Hutchinson critic who was grateful for the Joe Rigney commentary from Wednesday on the “progressive gaze.” Listener Charles Calvin called it “a great balance to the earlier commentary [in the interview with] Asa Hutchinson.” He added that balanced viewpoints really do help those who are trying to follow a Biblical worldview.

BROWN: Our last piece of feedback today is a longer letter telling the story of how our program inspired a listener to finally do something about an issue she felt strongly about. That letter flowed in to our Paul Butler …

PAUL BUTLER: She writes:

Thank you for faithful reporting that informs and encourages me to take a stand and make a difference. The pride celebrations of June grieve me, but I thought I just needed to put up with it. Yet your reporting with David Bahnsen regarding the differences Christians are making in corporate America and especially John Stonestreet’s July 5th commentary on pride month encouraged me that maybe even I could make a difference.

So when I encountered extensive pride decorations at my Medical Clinic where I went for an x-ray, I contacted them and expressed my disappointment and frustration, insisting that my medical professionals keep their politics out of my medical care.

I didn’t really expect a response, but I got an immediate email and a phone call the next day. He listened to my concerns and informed me that they had already taken down all decorations while they conduct an internal investigation and seek out counsel from marketing and owners about appropriate decorations in a medical setting.

Thank you for encouraging me to take a stand in my corner of the world where God has placed me.

Sincerely, Hannah Peltier

EICHER: Thanks to all who wrote and called. We’re thankful for the time you give to listen each day … and for your feedback.

BROWN: If you have a comment to share you can email editor@wng.org. You can include an audio file attachment to your email, and we’ll consider it for air. You can even call it in at 202-709-9595.

EICHER: And that’s Listener Feedback for August!

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