24 AUGUST 1985, Page 21

Reporting America

Sir: Many of your readers will applaud the rebuke Mr Conrad M. Black has directed at the inferior quality of Spectator report- ing of American affairs (Letters, 10 Au- gust). Since the Hitchens articles are but the most recent in a series going back over many years, one must assume that respon- sibility lies with successive editors. I find it difficult to reconcile the generally apposite and stimulating treatment of home affairs with the ill-conceived rubbish that crosses the Atlantic. Can it be that Mr Black is right, and that your judgment, Sir, is corroded by snobbery and envy?

Gwyn Tasker

10 Meadowcroft, Southgate, Gower, West Glamorgan