The press messes up.
You know it, you’ve seen it countless times on TV and in print.
Last week, you may have seen it in our paper. This is not a problem of the author, nor is it any one person’s fault.
This was an error of judgement on the part of the entire publication.
The piece “Cup of Destruction,” does not accurately depict the views of this publication, or even the views of the author.
There is no acceptable excuse for why this piece was handled by the Torch and then ran in the paper and on the website. It will remain there as a reminder that readers should stay active and respond in an appropriate manner as Tirzah Price and Sarah Newlin did.
This issue is less about the content of the story than it is the misdeed of this editorial staff failing to hold up journalistic standards, myself included.
It doesn’t matter if this was an attempt at extreme satire, or if it was a real call-out of an entire demographic, this paper got it wrong.
The outpouring of comments on the website illustrates that readers have power, and the outpouring of letters to the editor does that as well.
As it’s been said at multiple junctures, this is your paper. You can choose to be a part of it and many of you were.
The author has expressed his extreme resentment for this piece not just in the adjacent column, but in his personal life since this printed, and this staff has received a reality check.
This is not a condemnation of the piece. That would be easy. This is a condemnation of the process of handling stories and how we didn’t follow it.
What disturbs me most is that this paper did not uphold the standards set within this column mere weeks ago, as pointed out by Newlin in her letter, which is unacceptable, not just on the paper’s part, but my own as well.