Confusion & Controversy

What  news stories and  LTE’s are and are not

From the Pulse section of our site: Near North Now is not responsible for nor do we agree or disagree with any opinions expressed by writers of letters.

This past week we posted 3 stories that brought out the predictable divisive  reactions from our readers.
When we reported on Representative Joseph Fox co-sponsoring the resolution to condemn the decision by SCOTUS a few years ago that opened up marriage to the gay citizens of our country we expected there would be some back and forth on social media. We were reporting news involving the guy in Lansing who represents us.  We offered no opinion, allowing our readership to express theirs in response to the piece. 

Then there was the story about Grant’s loss of enrollment numbers. We shared the stats with GPS Superintendent Kevin Akin who graciously agreed to be interviewed. Again, offering no opinion on the issue we left it to our readers to hash it out and man, did they ever. 

And, of course, when we posted a letter to the editor (LTE) written by one of our  readers about the recent dust-up at a WH press conference,  the proverbial s— hit the fan. Folks came out  firing on local social media (LSM) sites to vent their anger toward us for posting it and others followed suit denouncing those who disagreed with the LTE. It quickly got ugly.
As a result we took down the post on LSM because the comments  ceased to be in any way productive. It seemed to merely toss gas on a fire that has been blazing for far too long. The letter remains on our news site.

The vast majority of our coverage includes local events, high school sports and activities, supporting local businesses (particularly when they are just getting off the ground), entertainment offerings and promoting initiatives aimed at helping us thrive as a community.
We accept LTE’s from readers who willingly identify themselves (no anonymous posts), and  include their email address so we can verify that they are indeed the author. We do the same with comments we receive  on articles so long as they refrain from unwarranted and random personal attacks. We will, of course, continue to do so.

When Near North Now began (9 years ago next month) we aspired to “enlighten, entertain, educate, and encourage dialogue” in the community we love. It is our hope we have accomplished these most of the time. 
We appreciate our readers. All of our readers.  And to those who are less than pleased with our coverage, we hope you’ll continue to give us a look. If not, well that’s ok too. 
After all, in my experience some folks who profess to want dialogue are actually  just looking for an audience. 
Hence, I suppose, the popularity of social media.

Be well folks. 

Ken DeLaat, Publisher
Near North Now