Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing my letter on March 29, which you titled ‘The coalition’s reputation needs protecting in Lethem’. Unfortunately you exercised your undeniable right to edit the text I sent, so that it reads like either a cryptic word puzzle or the wanderings of a crazed mind. Your ellipses in parentheses made it hard to see that in Facebook Messenger I had been responding to a post containing a link to a third person’s letter to another editor, the content of which contained terms you evidently think too strong, or too risky of a libel suit. I suppose it is not your policy to publish references to the content of other newspapers, but it might be your aim not to make your customers read between the lines. Especially lines printed over an identifiable name.
I am glad, Editor, that you have given space to at least an obscured exposure of the issue that concerns my present hometown. But a newspaper, of all entities, should contribute to transparency. So I should be glad if you would give some clarity by publishing this gentle self-defence, perhaps with a note explaining why you felt it necessary to mangle my letter.
Yours faithfully,
Gordon Forte
Editor’s note
The text in Mr Forte’s letter which was excised was potentially defamatory. Since the individual to whom it referred had been given no right of reply and we could not verify the allegations against him, it would have been irresponsible of us to have printed the letter in its entirety.
The portion which was edited occurred within the framework of a direct quote, so we were not in a position to amend the text in order to allow for greater readability. Ellipses were placed in square brackets, therefore, to indicate that text had been removed by SN, and not by Mr Forte.
