More Dishonest Editing

As I reported in my September 9 post, a letter to the editor I had written was edited by the newspaper's staff in such a way as to change the whole point and thrust of the original. As the Intelligent Design Movement continued to be denegrated by further editorials, I wrote another letter, this time limiting it to exactly 200 words, so there would be no excuse for "editing for length."

The results were shocking. Not only did the editors add some of their own material, but they eliminated a key quote, thus again severely altering the meaning of my letter. I would call this a case of irresponsible and dishonest editorial policy and practice.

So what is a person to do? Write more letters to the editor? Write to the editors, complaining about their policies and practices? Cancel my subscription? Well, the first two are certainly possibilities. Cancelling my subscription would only cut myself off from further debate. And besides, I must have my daily dose of crossword puzzle therapy and the philosophical enlightenment of Ziggy cartoons :-)