By Judith Martin-Straw
Dear Ari –
I noticed a headline you had the other day using the mayor's first name, and the rest of the council member's last names. This is, at best, inconsistent journalistic style, and at worst, disrespectful and sexist. I don't look at the Front Page often, so I don't know if this an error or your policy, but I felt compelled to point it out.
Judith, never known as Judy, is the editor of Culver City Crossroads, and she may be contacted at editor@culvercitycrossroads.com
A considered response from Mr. Noonan to Judith:
I arrived at the office late this morning because of medical needs in our family. I did not have time to correct the punctuation and spelling in Judith’s missive. Judith’s effort appears as sent.
It further appears that Judith sings in the choir of the Insecure Left. Those are the guys who ride their anger vehicles to work every day. They believe smiling is sinful. Insecure Leftists are not, ahem, noted for their sense of humor, as even a child can plainly see from the modest sample above. We normal people believe God placed Insecure Leftists on this planet to amuse us. How do you think Swishy became President.
Judith may or may not have a background in traditional journalism. If Judith did – and were not hobbled by sexual correctness – she would have realized decades ago that first names and nicknames of well-known personalities commonly are employed in headlines – because they are easier to fit and instantly recognizable.
Maybe Judith only reads stories about girls. She did not complain that headlines periodically allude to Vice Mayor Mehaul O’Leary as “Mehaul.” Hmm. Do men count among Insecure Leftists? Hmm.
Is that sexually correct or offensive?
Notice that Judith did not address me as Mr. Noonan, the style at our newspaper but in the manner of Insecure Leftists, known for their paucity of social discipline, frequently address persons of all rank by their first names instead of the more respectful formal form.
We appreciate Judith’s readership when she drops by to familiarize herself with the news. However, we are pleased she does not visit more often because that would call for additional deeply reflected responses. We don’t have time. We have news to report, to persons on the left, the right and elsewhere.
As my late non-friend Cary Grant famously said, “Joo-day, Joo-day, Joo-day.”
