The other night I was at a meeting where a gentleman stated he had written a letter-to-the-editor but hadn't seen it in print as he doesn't believe in subscribing to the Chico ER because he doesn't agree with the views of the editorial board and David Little, the editor.
This is a constant complaint I hear all the time. The Paradise Post took up the issue in two columns last week.
Rick Silva, the editor of the Paradise Post, wrote about the heat he takes for printing the views of the very liberal Jaime O'Neill. Evidently he had people threaten to end their subscriptions to the paper because he prints O'Neill's delightful and fun-to-read columns. The opposite also happened when somebody canceled a subscription because of something that Rick Silva wrote. Jaime O'Neill wrote a companion piece about those who cancel subscriptions just because they disagree with a certain columnist.
I decided to subscribe to the Chico ER electronically this week (I live in the boonies and nobody delivers papers out here). I often buy a copy of the Paradise Post whenever I am in Paradise.
I don't agree 98% of the time with the editorial board, and the editors, of the Paradise Post and the Chico ER. I do, however, love print journalism and I think both communities (Chico and Paradise) are well served by having those papers published.
I also read the more liberalChico News and Review every week (and in full disclosure, I contribute to that paper). It is interesting to note that the Chico News and Review has the highest readership in Butte County.
To cancel a subscription just because an editor says something you don't like is silly. If you disagree, scribble down 250 words and send it in to the paper. Editors have a right to have an opinion. They also have a right to express them. They also have an obligation to print rebuttals from people who disagree with them.
And until it is proven otherwise, I do believe that the editors of the local papers do make an attempt to print views that do not agree with the newspaper's positions.
Newspapers are dying. They need our help. Working with them and participating with them is a much better form of dissent than to just simply take the very childish path of boycotting a newspaper and then creating a situation where we no longer have print journalism in our county.
For those who might be interested, I created a new Facebook page dedicated to the editorials, columnists and letters-to-the-editor of Butte County print journalism. I daily monitor the Chico ER, the Oroville MR, the Paradise Post, the Chico News and Review, and the Gridley Herald. I also keep an eye on the ChicoSol which is a local online publication. Find the page here.
I decided to subscribe to the Chico ER electronically this week (I live in the boonies and nobody delivers papers out here). I often buy a copy of the Paradise Post whenever I am in Paradise.
I don't agree 98% of the time with the editorial board, and the editors, of the Paradise Post and the Chico ER. I do, however, love print journalism and I think both communities (Chico and Paradise) are well served by having those papers published.
I also read the more liberalChico News and Review every week (and in full disclosure, I contribute to that paper). It is interesting to note that the Chico News and Review has the highest readership in Butte County.
To cancel a subscription just because an editor says something you don't like is silly. If you disagree, scribble down 250 words and send it in to the paper. Editors have a right to have an opinion. They also have a right to express them. They also have an obligation to print rebuttals from people who disagree with them.
And until it is proven otherwise, I do believe that the editors of the local papers do make an attempt to print views that do not agree with the newspaper's positions.
Newspapers are dying. They need our help. Working with them and participating with them is a much better form of dissent than to just simply take the very childish path of boycotting a newspaper and then creating a situation where we no longer have print journalism in our county.
For those who might be interested, I created a new Facebook page dedicated to the editorials, columnists and letters-to-the-editor of Butte County print journalism. I daily monitor the Chico ER, the Oroville MR, the Paradise Post, the Chico News and Review, and the Gridley Herald. I also keep an eye on the ChicoSol which is a local online publication. Find the page here.
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