SEELEY LAKE - I’m writing about the July 14th issue of the Pathfinder.
I was rather disturbed to see the prominent black box of divisive fearmongering on the second page. And the text next to it was equally inflammatory. There is a huge difference between an opinion and panicked, xenophobic ranting (including a rather glaring strawman fallacy, among other things).
I understand it’s a letters-to-the-editor section but as a media institution I believe you have a responsibility to distribute information, not fear. Placing that message in block caps in a giant black box is more than just printing a letter to the editor. That visual impact far outweighs the disclaimer below it that it’s not the paper’s opinion. It legitimizes it, while also bypassing the logical defense of the mind; there is no way to prevent such a prominent and threatening MESSAGE OF FEAR from seeping into one’s subconscious, however slightly. I’ve already seen one blatantly anti-Muslim sign at a business in town and it saddens me to see such bigotry on display in our local paper too. Surely you can choose to only print letters that have more logical insight than raving. It says you can right in your disclaimer.
I also regret having submitted pictures to the paper and having done the phone interview, only to have it show up in the same issue as this. I got an extra copy to send to my family but with that giant black box sticking out on the second page I can’t bring myself to send the whole issue.
Sincerely regretful.
Reader Comments(1)
Sally writes:
Thanks for writing this letter. The person whose letter you're criticizing has been fulminating about the same topic on the Swan Valley Facebook page, a closed group that explicitly asks members not to post on controversial non-valley-specific topics. I'm even more horrified, though, about your statement that a Seeley Lake business is displaying an anti-Muslim sign. What business? I'd like to know so I can make sure I don't go there.
07/30/2016, 4:16 am