Jacko
Thanks for the clarification of your position. I agree that looks and ability are not correlated in any way.
I agree that public perception can be important, but would argue that it isn't as important as the press likes to make out because what they really mean by public perception is "what we print" - another thread perhaps!
However, assuming that public perception is important, and that they are poorly informed as you state, and that your job as a journalist is the informing of self-same public and assisting them in forming their perceptions, do you see (especially given your earlier posts comparing Benson and Odiham) where you may be to blame?