Letters: Goodyear official rebuts claims from Seiberling descendant

Trust in the media to report factually and accurately has diminished, and it’s up to publications like the Akron Beacon Journal to gain back this trust. But I question if the Beacon Journal is capable of doing so if the Letter to the Editor published on Aug. 11 about Goodyear and CEO Mark Stewart is any indication.

I understand that letters to the editor are separate from views expressed by a media outlet, but the Beacon Journal, like all papers in the Gannett/USA Today network, has a stated approach to “hold factual information in editorials or other opinion pieces to the same standards of accuracy as news stories.” You fell woefully short publishing a letter to the editor that was rife with factual errors. To list a few of those, you allowed without fact-checking:

∎ A suggestion that the company had a quarterly loss last quarter. Goodyear didn’t; in fact the company delivered $339 million in segment operating income and $85 million in net income

∎ An assertion that Goodyear’s net debt has widened. It has not. Goodyear’s net debt has decreased compared to the second quarter of 2023

∎ A reference to the recent definitive agreement to sell Goodyear’s OTR business as a contributor to the recent quarter’s earnings “loss.” The assertion is that because Goodyear no longer received the OTR earnings, our quarter performance was poor. That is untrue. While there was no alleged quarter loss, the OTR business is still part of Goodyear’s portfolio and therefore was part of the earnings calculation that led to a $339 segment operating income.

A simple glance at our recent earnings information released on July 31 would have refuted the information above. The team at the Beacon Journal fell far short of their obligation, and we all need them to be better for the sake of the public trust.

While every person has a right to their opinion, no person, or publication, has a right to be wrong with the facts. That is something we all can live by.

Doug Grassian, vice president of global communications for Goodyear

Another view on LifeWise

Cheryl Powell’s editorial, “Here’s why LifeWise is an unwise choice for public school districts” (July 26), objects to proposed HB 445, which mandates a released time option for religious studies. Powell also focuses on LifeWise’s Christian content and religious instruction.

Powell believes these programs are “better suited for weekends or before or after school” to avoid interfering with noncore classes important for a “well-rounded education” such as “art, music and gym.” She also cites concerns for social divisions, bullying and other problems, concluding these programs present a “dangerous crack” in church/state separation.

For starters, under current law, religious instruction is entirely voluntary, permitted during school hours, off-site, privately funded, with written parental approval.

As a Christian, though, provoked, I initially wrote a rebuttal. With reflection, I realized I was caught in the modern trap of trading positions rather than seeking understanding. Such a reply would not foster understanding but only distance relationships.

I respect the views of those who oppose HB 445, released time for religious study, LifeWise, or even Christianity. That right is distinctly American.

The “unity” in “community” does not mean uniformity. Bridging differences — whether racial, economic, political, or religious — depends on relationships. It can be exhausting but the reward is mutual respect and trust.

From my perspective, faith is not bounded by specific times or days; God is all of life (Acts 17:28). Faith is core, not secondary. A program that teaches “who you are” by learning “whose you are” is not a threat to church/state separation. Beyond well-roundedness, it leads to fullness (John 10:10).

Christianity teaches the inherent dignity of each human, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Jesus instructs us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). His redemptive sacrifice on the cross calls for no less. A right relationship with God leads to right relationships with others and is open to all who seek (Matthew 7:7-8).

Hard topics take relationships. They may not yield agreement, but they enable understanding, mutual trust, respect and, from there, community.

Robert Reffner, Akron

Embrace the truth

It’s very much past time the Akron Beacon Journal started covering honestly the elderly presidential candidate who shows his increasing cognitive decline with every appearance.

It’s the same candidate who is also a convicted felon, an adjudicated sexual offender, a lifelong racist, a con man who concocted scam after scam, an admirer of brutal dictators, a compulsive liar and, not the least, a traitor who tried to overthrow a fair election to remain in power.

It’s the same candidate who incites violence against innocent people and his political enemies. It’s the same candidate your paper has been normalizing for years in service to your extreme right-wing readers.

Newspapers have a duty to report the truth. The whole truth. You have failed to fulfill that duty. You need to embrace it once more.

Report on this candidate’s actions and words. Report on his plans for our country if he wins, plans detailed in the venomous Project 2025. In addition, though it is an exhausting task, fact-check his lies. The truth is not partisan. It is simply the truth.

It’s very much past time for the Beacon Journal to reclaim its soul.

Tony Isabella, Medina

Guns as a disease

A young innocent woman, Megan Keleman, was killed Aug. 14 in Stow by a man who should never have been allowed to own a gun.

I was heartsick and cannot imagine this horrible act. If a virus killed as many people each year in the United States as guns do, there would be an outcry and demand to find a cure or vaccine.

Instead our government looks away. People in the world who would come as tourists to the United States are afraid because of gun violence. Is it not time for action?

Dr. George Litman, Akron

Cheers for roundabouts

Roundabouts are the best thing to happen to traffic control!

The only thing as important as yielding (or perhaps even more important) is to “signal exit.” This is already the law, under “changing lanes,” but more often than not, ignored by most drivers.

This is essential to maintain constant flow.

Although roundabouts use up more real estate, they are not affected by power failures, and are safer and aesthetically better — no posts, wires or control boxes.

They will grow on you. A winner all around is a roundabout!

Robin Reid, Fairlawn

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Letters: Goodyear official rebuts claims from Seiberling descendant