Monday, January 22, 2024

The Guy and Guy Gazette

(That first Guy would be pronounced in the English fashion, with a long "i," while the second Guy is said in the French fashion, with a long "e.")

A longtime friend, who is a longtime lurker here, wrote a letter to the editor of the local Bedford Bulletin in anticipation of the NH presidential primary on Tuesday. He is exercised about Mr. Trump. He has been exercised about Mr. Biden at times as well, but these engineering types like to keep focus.  One topic, one point to be made. Only after he had sent it around to his social circle did he notice that they had changed his headline and edited his comments just enough to change his tone noticeably. 

Well, now he is exercised about the Bedford Bulletin as well. Sponge-headed Scienceman, who has had books and professional articles published, assured him that this was quite usual, but Gerry remains annoyed. He has hit upon the scheme of publishing his own newspaper, over which he will have control of headlines and content.  He cites his paper route in the 1950s as sufficient background to pull this off. Sponge suggested the title.

Well, that will still take a bit of time, won't it?  It will be tough to get that up and running by Jan 23. So I am offering what I hope with be an acceptable substitute: he can publish his letter here, with complete editorial control over both headline and content. 

There's not a moment to lose, Gerry. Write it up, headline it, and I will give you a precious guest posting slot here.

1 comment:

Christopher B said...

While I can understand that he had no control over the headline, substantive changes in a letter to the editor, especially if he wasn't notified of the changes, seems to be dirty pool to me as well. The theory is those are comments from readers and printed as received. My understanding is the editing process in books or articles includes giving the author a chance to respond or make further changes.