I would agree with Ari Noonan that as the owner/publisher/editor of thefrontpageonline.com, he has every right to control what he publishes in his online newspaper; but only up to a certain point.
He may have to edit a letter from community members expressing their opinions on a timely issue, thereby, bringing it up to his own publishing standards.
Mr. Noonan even edits my writings, sometimes. He sees me as a columnist for his paper. In fact, that's how I am listed. He has found it necessary, at times, to lightly edit some of my commentaries, correcting grammatical errors, typos, and even some misspellings before publishing them. For correcting some of my most atrocious gaffes, I am truly grateful. But what if the letter is from a public figure, say a candidate for local office? Should the editor alter the candidate's written word just as he would any other letter before the public, the electorate, has a chance to read it?
How is the public to really know a candidate if all it reads is edited versions of his public statements?
A line should be drawn when it comes to pre-publication editing of writings of elected officials or candidates running for local office!
Selective Editing
Mr. Noonan would not alter (edit) a letter issued by a President, Senator, Assemblymember, County Supervisor or member of the City Council. Why, then, would he want to alter a letter of a candidate running for local office? For what purpose?
Getting to Know You
How is the reader to know what is the editor's writing and what is the true, unvarnished view of the candidate?
Who Is the Real Gary Abrams?
One candidate who comes to mind is Gary Abrams. In the past I have received my share of personal email from Gary, and those letters were unlike what is being published on the Front Page. It seems Mr. Noonan finds the time necessary to heavily edit Abrams' letters before letting the public see them.
Puppeteering?
It makes me wonder, if Gary Abrams were to be elected to the School Board, would Mr Noonan continue to edit his public releases?
Maybe Mr. Noonan would choose to sit behind Mr. Abrams on the dais and whisper in his ear, not necessarily what to think, but how to express Gary's views in a clearer manner to the public. Just as he is doing now.
A Public Disservice
When a candidate running for local office writes a letter or commentary to a publication, is it ever appropriate for the editor to edit a candidate's writing? In continuing to heavily edit Gary Abrams’s writings, the FrontPage is doing the public a disservice! Shouldn't there be an assumption by the reader and a responsibility by the editor that the comments being published form an unvarnished view of the candidate's thoughts? Should not the candidates' writings be 100 percent their own, not an edited version of some editor. Doesn't a publication owe it to its public the right to see an “unedited version” of the candidate, warts and all?
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
[Editor’s Note: Mr. Laase must be corrected. Every text he has read in his lifetime, from the picture books of early childhood to contemporary reading, has been edited, vastly in many cases. Equally, all copy submitted to this newspaper is subject to editing, regardless of the person’s exalted status, which spans former wives and current holders of the title.]
