A few years ago I wrote a letter to the Barre Times-Argus. Ever since, something has bothered me greatly.
The staff at the Times-Argus changed the wording in one paragraph and left out a couple sentences, thereby changing the tone and meaning of my letter. They still, however, put my name at the bottom of the letter, implying that it was printed the same as I wrote it. (By the way, I sent the same letter to The World a couple weeks later and it was printed word for word.)
This bothers me for several reasons. They should not print a letter with someone's name after it, unless it is the way it was originally written, without at least first contacting the writer. To me, this goes way beyond an editor's rights.
Ever since, I have been hesitant to write to the Times-Argus, and I am always skeptical when I read the letters, as to whether they have been altered from the way the original letter was written.
Naive people tend to think that what they read in a paper is true and factual. Some articles are nothing more than advertising, or political statements, or downright fiction... see how many times the line "sources say" is used without naming the source.
