Several readers called today to voice their complaints about a followup story in today's Erie Times-News on fugitive Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. The article appears on page 4B. The headline reads: Fugitive 'just like the rest of us.' The words are lifted from a quote in the story by Phillips' court-appointed lawyer, John Keavey.

Keavey shed some insight on Phillips' thinking when he broke out of prison in April. The lawyer talks about how Phillips wished to turn his life around when he first came out of prison, and that he wanted to reconnect with his daughter.

"He simply wanted to be a father and grandfather and work and see family, just like the rest of us," Keavey said.

Let me say that I really like this story because it provides a lot of background. We get a feel for what Phillips might have been thinking when he broke out of jail and then stayed on the lam for nearly six months.

That said, I think some of the newspaper's readers are taking the headline literally. It's not saying that Phillips, an accused cop killer, is like the rest of us. Several readers complained that they "are not like this (accused) killer."

But I think if we need go to such lengths to explain the headline, it probably is not an effective headline. I still sense anger over the reporting of this story. Indeed, several readers accuse the Times-News of glorifying Phillips just "to sell newspapers."

That is not true. I would argue that the reporting that's appeared in the Times-News on this story has been fair and balanced. The article in today's editions, which was compiled by the Associated Press, seems fair to me, but I think the headline does not enhance the package. We need to marry all the elements -- text, photos, graphics, headlines -- together in a compelling package to make it work.

-- Kevin Cuneo