Responding to An Editorial

I write to support Rudy Baum for his editorial "Demonizing the Press" (C&EN, July 10, page 3). He has continued the splendid revitalization of C&EN that was begun by Madeleine Jacobs, and part of being a creative editor is, appropriately, addressing issues that go beyond the narrowest confines of the profession that sponsors the publication. I think C&EN needs and deserves an editor who is more than a mindless technocrat. I respond very positively to Baum's statement in the Aug. 7 issue (page 5) that "C&EN is a newsmagazine, not a trade journal." When C&EN no longer has an editor who believes that, and acts accordingly, it won't be worthy of the American Chemical Society.

F. Albert Cotton
College Station, Texas

I was surprised at the sentiment common to letters responding to Baum's editorial on freedom of the press: C&EN should narrowly limit its focus to the chemical enterprise rather than expose its readers to other issues that also affect them as members of American society. I would hope that being a knowledgeable contributor to the democratic process would be at least as important to chemists and engineers as being knowledgeable in their field.

I regularly read a variety of scientific journals; e-mailed newsletters; and technical trade, popular science, and nongovernmental organization magazines. I have found that all technical publications (including trade magazines) contain editorials, letters, news content, and philosophical ponderings. I rarely encounter such thoughtful processing of information anywhere else.