McMartin ‘Retrial’ on Afternoon Talk Shows

Concerning Howard Rosenberg’s Jan. 31 column, “A Retrial by TV Talk Show”:

How dare Rosenberg compare the efforts of the McMartin case parents to the shameless self-promotion of Zsa Zsa Gabor? Does he really believe that parents who are fighting for the lives of their children are trying to “exploit” them?

In his concern for the quality of daytime television, Rosenberg implies that the public good would be better served if the presentations were “fair.” I find his choice of words strange. This is a medium that exists, after all, to sell us things that we neither want nor need. And it feels no compunction about using whatever means necessary to accomplish its ends.

There was a trial, but its outcome doesn’t change the truth of the situation. No one should rest until justice is served. The parents were only doing their duty in pressing for another trial.

PHYLLIS MELLMAN, Los Angeles