Small papers are often buffeted by the desire to please their major advertisers and provide news… all the while selling papers… which of course — for many –is what it is all about.
However, over the years I have noticed and heard from others how subtle the censorship can be. Most of us have witnessed large stories going uncovered, but if you write a letter to the editor, you may find yourself edited for the darnest things. My wife wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter that with all the editing came out more serious in tone than intended. Laura was responding to a series of letters that bashed one political party or another.
Her letter related the research from the Pew folks, a decidedly left-of-center group that reported –oddly enough — that in their survey Republicans ‘liked the weather better.’ Now, this doesn’t sound inflammatory to me … but this harmlessly looking phrase – like many others – was removed.
It does get one to wonder not why newspapers censor… but why they do so selectively.
In the marketplace of ideas, real free speech is important.
Roger Freberg