Some friends and I were talking local issues the other night, and it turns out we have all noticed a peculiar selectivity on the part of the Record-Bee”s editorial policy. It seems the “word-limit” does not apply to crazy anti-government conspiracists, or to mean-spirited redneck ranting.
For instance, when a race fan writes an aggressively bullying and snarky tirade that makes our community appear intolerant, mean-spirited and anti-tourist, the RB obligingly allows his rant to greatly exceed the paper”s stated word limit.
Editors make decisions that affect what is printed and how, and what is printed in turn effects not only how our community perceives itself, but how we are perceived by others. How we are perceived by others has direct effect on our community”s economy. Oddly enough, people are not eager to travel to places where they do not feel welcome.
The racing rant was intended to drive tourist business away, we get that. What we don”t get is, why would the RB be so eager to print something so clearly guaranteed to adversely effect the local economy? So eager, in fact, that the RB would violate its own stated word limit in order to allow more of the ugly rant?
