It continues to amaze me how the Slantin' Misleader can be so hypocritical about letters to the editor. They require every letter writer to sign his/her name, address, and phone number so the paper can verify that the letter is legitimate.
However, they then allow anonymous, often venom-filled commenters to respond in their online version. These faceless, nameless responders -- the same ones over and over in many cases -- are often in attack mode with a personal agenda to push. Typical scenario: conservative writes letter, liberals attack.
What is the purpose? Why does the Misleader allow this to continue? I talked with Dennis Neal, the Opinion Editor, about it and he said they were "reviewing" it. That was months ago and it continues. The result has been a paper that has gone almost completely liberal in the bashing comments.
Sad. Really, really sad for a small-town newspaper in a conservative area. They are destroying themselves.
5 comments:
You should see the discounted ad rates they are offering businesses. Makes me wonder if they are losing advertisers...
I do hear that.
And those anonymous commenters are LOVING the recent LTE about the "Big Tent". Look at all this lovely fan mail!
http://forums.newsleader.com/viewtopic.php?t=8291&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=a109db28a3065ff2e193effd213a7e0f
Lynn,
I am a Dem and disagree with many of your views, however, we can all agree that the The Staunton Misleader is a joke. After they endorsed Shifflet over Godfrey, when Shifflet didn't even showup for the interview was another example of how the Staunton Misleader is out of touch. I have also dropped me subscription.
I think that this truly does prove something--when we have Dems AND Repubs dropping subscriptions to the MisLeader, something is terribly wrong.
They better get there stuff in gear, or this problem will continue to get bigger and bigger.
The News Virginian is looking awfully good right now...
When the Leader decided to get rid of free Wedding Advertisements, subscriptions dropped. The Leader was so out of touch with its readership that it didn't realize that the Announcement section drove the Sunday paper. Sure they brought back free annoucements but it was a big red flag to me that they don't "get it".
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