Criticism

In two new political ads set to begin airing today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) denounces the recall campaign as a danger to the state's well-being and urges Californians to vote against it. Although Feinstein criticizes the recall campaign as unfair to the current governor, no images of Gray Davis are shown and he is never mentioned by name. He is simply "the governor."

Determined to make the rags-to-riches drama "Slumdog Millionaire" as authentic as possible, director Danny Boyle reworked his film's first act, casting Hindi-speaking children from Mumbai's slums in two lead roles. Now his choice to put the impoverished 7-year-olds into the film has sparked a growing controversy that is threatening to overtake the movie's global goodwill.

Choreographer Donald Byrd answered the negative criticism he received recently in the New York press by presenting the half-exhilarating, half-flat artistic manifesto "A Formal Response" on the "Explorations III" series Wednesday at the Japan America Theatre. The work that inspired the criticism, " . . . Concerning Vices, Circumstances, and Situations," has not been performed locally.

President Carter, a practicing Christian, assailed a top Georgia education official's bid to strip the word "evolution" from textbooks in some state schools. Kathy Cox, Georgia's school superintendent, has been criticized for suggesting that science books used in the state's middle and high schools carry the term "biological changes over time" instead of "evolution." In a rare public criticism of an elected official, Carter accused Cox of trying to censor and distort students' education.

A museum advertisement featuring an electric chair is drawing complaints from death penalty opponents who say it trivializes capital punishment. The ad is for an exhibit on tabloid journalism at the Freedom Forum's Newseum, a $50-million news media museum that opened in April in Arlington, Va. The caption for the ad states, in bold letters: "Think a Museum About News Is A Bore? You're In For A Big Shock." Critics said the ad shows poor judgment.

A doctor says he was dropped by a health maintenance organization for violating his loyalty oath by criticizing the HMO on "Donahue" and at an industry conference. US Healthcare Inc. disputed that, saying Dr. David Himmelstein was dropped because of cutbacks unrelated to his criticism. Himmelstein complained last month at a health-care conference in New York and again on television talk show "Donahue" on Nov.

President Bush on Sunday described as "uncivil" Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's critical remarks of the administration's policies in Iraq. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said last week the case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud "made up in Texas" to give Republicans a political boost. The longtime senator also alleged that the money for the war is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send troops.

Accusing music giant MCA of reneging on a promise that it would not distribute offensive material, a trio of rap critics Tuesday expressed displeasure with the recent release of albums containing violent and profane lyrics. Former education secretary William J.

Over the summer months of slow news, the media and their critics have treated us to a feast of opinions about what is good and bad in our national news coverage. Noted pundits have spread their positions across the spectrum, some "admitting" that there is a "liberal bias", others insisting that there is not, and the remainder stroking their chins in sage concern. Even Congress--prohibited by the Constitution from making any law "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press"--has hailed network executives to Capitol Hill, and excoriated them before their own cameras for their coverage of the TWA hostage crisis.