This is a response to many who wonder why certain local St. Maarten newspapers do not always publish my letters to the editor.
Most recent example is my letter to the editor sent to the Daily Herald on Monday, March 2, 2009, entitled 'Unpaid adviser....welcome to the club'.
I too, have the same question and have experienced this decision to decline publication of letters to the editor by the local media on too many occasions to mention.
However please let me make my position on this issue clear.
I respect that it is the right of the news-paper editor to publish any such letter completely to his/her discretion.
In other word, an letter to the editor, may completely be ignored by the editor.
Also,a letter sent to the editor maybe published at a time of choice of editor.
As a result of this choice, letter in question may be published much later, making its contents completely irrelevant to the reader, thereby undermining the seriousness, the credibility and even the very sanity of the writer.In addition, newspaper's editor has the right to edit the contents of the letter to the editor, to the extent that it no longer reflects the author's original formulation, again making the reader question the mind of the writer of the letter.
Let us take it a step further.
It is also alleged that certain papers, before publishing certain letters to the editor, 'tip off' the person who is subject of the letter, and allows that person to respond and still not publish the original letter to the editor.
All of these options provide every news-paper editor with the power of selectivity, bias and prejudice.
Mind you, I do not accuse any particular news paper of any such malpractices perse.
What my intention is here, is to give an account to the many people who wonder why at times articles they know I published on our own website, www.stmartinnation.org and that are also published on www.smn-news.com NOt published in all daily news papers.
In addition, it is my intention to inform those who would like to make use of their democratic rights to express their views in a letter to the editor in the local media, what 'pitholes' might lie ahead.
In the future, I will also include the e-mail addresses of daily news-papers when I mail my letters to the editor to the local news-outlets.
Whether or not the Daily Herald or Today chooses to publish these letters in their printed news-papers is their choice and their right, which I will respect, though not necessarily agree with.
And likewise, it is the choice of the public to buy or not to buy certain news papers.
You be the judge.
In ending my thanks to the TODAY news-paper for having printed my letter to the editor in its edition of today, Thursday, March 5, 2009.
Love you,
Leopold JAMES
Native-indigenous St. Martiner with apologies.
