Last Saturday's front-page story package about a bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate to lift a federal ban on offshore drilling left a few readers questioning the AJC's objectivity on the issue.

"Oil exploration may be on horizon for Georgia" read the headline. A photograph with the story showed people frolicking on a beach in California with an offshore oil rig in the background. But the photograph's caption said the scene in Georgia wouldn't be quite the same as the one pictured, which made some readers wonder why we ran such a picture in the first place.

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"Saturday's front page above the fold constitutes a shining example of either really sloppy work by the editors, or deliberate juxtaposition of a deceptive headline and deceptive photograph," wrote Chet Burgess of Atlanta. "The photograph, shot on the West Coast, shows two oil rigs looming over the people on the beach with a big, bold headline. ... The bipartisan proposal from 10 senators would allow Georgia and other ... southeastern United States to authorize oil exploration 50 miles or more off the coast. At that distance, an oil rig would not be visible to Georgia beachgoers, and certainly would not be on the horizon."

In fairness to the headline writer, a secondary headline does mention the 50-mile-or-more distance stipulation.

Kennesaw reader Marilyn Arce believes Saturday's article, plus a front-page article in June on the topic, may have given readers a misleading picture of the issue.

"On June 25, the AJC published on the front page an article by Mike Williams regarding the safety of offshore drilling," she wrote. "The large picture accompanying the article showed a severe oil spill on the California coast. Careful reading showed that the oil spill came from a tanker, not an oil rig."

The United States' energy crisis is impacting the economy in a big way, she added. "We voters need in-depth information about possible solutions that are presented in a factual manner, with as little distortion as possible. Opinions of the editorial staff should be clearly stated on the editorial page."

Bert Roughton, the AJC's managing editor for print, said the photo selection could have been better. He also questioned the prominence of the package, given a mention lower in the package that there is little gas/oil potential off the Georgia coast.

Saturday's package actually included two stories and a graphic outlining innovations the government and oil industry officials say will make offshore oil drilling safer. It's an important topic, and the work of a group of senators from both parties led by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was worth noting prominently. Stacy Shelton and Marilyn Geewax's story focused on the debate among elected officials, while a story by Cox correspondent Bob Keefe sought to explain the technological advances in offshore drilling balanced with the concerns of those who fear a repeat of Union Oil Co.'s massive 1969 accident off the coast of Santa Barbara.

But readers who felt the package was biased, rightly or wrongly, may not have read the full page of information contained inside the newspaper, including a chart that showed the number of spills that have occurred since 1964. That's why packaging of stories and photo selection is so important, especially when writing on issues such as the prospect of offshore drilling.

For better or for worse, comic's ending: Comics fans may already know that one of the most popular strips is ending this month as creator and artist Lynn Johnston goes into semiretirement.

Her popular strip, "For Better or for Worse," about the Pattersons, a Canadian family, has been around since 1979 and runs in more than 2,000 newspapers worldwide, AJC comics editor Frank Rizzo said.

Rather than running repeats of the strip, as we do with the popular "Peanuts," the AJC has chosen to run a new strip when Johnston closes out her popular story line.

Beginning Sept. 1, a new family-oriented strip called "Daddy's Home," by Anthony Rubino Jr. and Gary Markstein, will debut.

"It's a family-oriented strip about both parents working, but the father works from home and takes care of the kids," Rizzo said. "It seemed to be sort of a modern family. We certainly have a lot of families where both parents do work."

Editors at the AJC looked at several new strips and felt this was one of the best of the new offerings. Feel free to let us know what you think.