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From time to time – as in pretty much every time – things pop up in letters to the editor that lead to more questions. Let’s see if we can come up with some answers.
Q: “I am disappointed with the Cherokee Scout for classifying Mary Mason’s opinion letter as a paid advertisement. Most ads are for goods and services. Why was this not a letter to the editor, making it subject to the usual guidelines in terms of length and claims not supported by the newspaper?”
A: This was one of many responses to Mason’s full-paid ad in the Oct. 27 edition. Interestingly, the question above was asked in different ways by folks on both sides of the vaccine debate.
First, there are lots of reasons to run advertisements that have nothing to do with goods and services. “Lordy Lordy, look who’s 40” birthday ads come to mind. There also are things like reunions, community fundraisers, employee recognition, grand openings, missing pets, nonprofit events and political ads.
Secondly, marking it a “paid advertisement” in no way diminishes the content, it simply points out that, unlike other letters to the editor, this one was paid in order for it to be published in full. And this is far from the first time this sort of thing has happened.
Several years ago, a fellow in Andrews published his lengthy letter to the editor about Murphy High School football as a paid ad. When he arrived at Hugh Hamilton Stadium that Friday night, he received a standing ovation – which also proves both letters and ads are well read.
It should go without saying that, of course, the Scout doesn’t endorse everything we put into print; if that was true, how could we publish items with such wildly disparaging viewpoints? At the same time, it’s also true that we’re a small-town weekly newspaper and don’t have our own personal fact-checking staff to independently track down and verify every claim made in a letter.
So, what to do? Well, it ain’t easy. Every decision could brand you as being transparent or a censor, a lunatic or a savior, depending on who’s reading the letter and how they’re interpreting it. That’s why, ultimately, the best solution is to only edit letters when it’s absolutely necessary; “first, do no harm” is a good idea for more than just physicians.
Unfortunately, I have had to edit more than usual lately, in part because many people continue to exceed the 300-word limit on letters, but also because of some rather outlandish claims.
And to answer another question, yes, we could use the revenue from the paid ads. That is, after all, how we are able to bring you the local news every week.
Q: “One writer compared Dr. Brian Mitchell and Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazis. Doesn’t that violate your letters policy as a personal attack?”
A: I have to agree. This one slipped by us, as I made a note a long time ago to not allow any more Hitler references after both major political parties began using him as their go-to move.
As mentioned above, I don’t like to edit letters, but I was forced to this week, as I removed the word “psychopath” was one letter. To accuse anyone, without evidence, of “suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior” is mean-spirited at best and not showing love to our neighbor.
Please consider this your only warning that all future Hitler and Nazi references will be removed without prejudice – unless you’re talking about actual Nazis, with swastikas and the like.
Q: “I brought a letter in Tuesday, but it wasn’t printed that week. Why not? The Scout hadn’t gone to press yet?”
A: It takes more than a morning to put together the weekly newspaper. Associates begin designing the pages on Monday morning, and by that night we are 90 percent completed. If we waited until Tuesday to get started, you wouldn’t receive the newspaper until Thursday.
We have had to hold some letters in recent weeks, but we went to great lengths to publish as many as possible today. As always, thanks for reading.
David Brown is publisher & editor of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; or email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com.