Dear Dana - A Letter to the Caledonia Record in Response to Editor's Divisive Commentary

My dearest Dana,

Please allow me to begin with a personal introduction, composed (mostly) of the facts you won’t be able to two-finger tap into Google. My name is Jacqueline and I am a voting, tax paying, St. Johnsbury resident. Shockingly: I am actually one who, on occasion, will pay the meager fee to read your paper. Unfortunately, this is how I recently came across a purposefully divisive and inflammatory article about Drag Story Hour at the Athenaeum. 

Among other responsibilities, I have the title of Writer. I maintain a personal blog that sees as much website traffic in thirty days as Caledonian Record garners all year. What’s my point? I’m glad you asked, Senior Editor. As a writer, I understand that I (we) have a responsibility -  especially as a REPORTER - to provide the facts without bias. However, shockingly, even with so many years of hyperlocal experience: you have yet to figure that out. 

Instead of reporting the date, time, and title of the event, you decided to highlight the negative feedback surrounding it. Keep in mind, this is negative feedback that many of us were unaware of. If you truly wanted to inform, you could have done so in an unbiased manner. Moreover, you could have provided opinions from a plethora of residents. Instead, you chose to use phrases like, “the latest controversial chapter” and “being written here as”. Controversial for whom? Your own personal beliefs or have you polled for a consensus amongst the St. Johnsbury community? Hm. That’s what I thought. 

You are one millimeter from becoming nothing more than a dollar and fifty cent tabloid full of one-sided conservative babble. Rather than bash you, I would like to provide advice that may not be apparent in situations that fuel your personal bias. Allow a variety of writers to cover stories that clearly invoke your personal feelings. We all like to see our name in lights, but giving a story or two to fresh new writers would be appreciated far and wide. 

In the future, please keep in mind that your job is to report, not divide. Print the facts and leave your opinion at home – unless of course, you would like to put your audacity behind one of your skewed stories and call it an opinion piece..? Food for thought. 

The fact that I’m having to scold a writer (with as much experience as you boast) about their responsibility to maintain ethical and unbiased reporting practices is shameful. Shame on you, Dana. I expect to see better behavior for my six quarters in the future. 

For those who made it this far, in summation I would like to say that Drag Story Hour is and will continue to be a peaceful event for inclusive education. Only those who are angry about its presence are changing that dynamic. Look within before you point your finger outward. I suppose if I put this into a language most of you may be a bit more familiar with, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven…".