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Should letters be stopped from being printed by an editor?

Posted: 10 May 2012 01:55 AM PDT

I was sent this letter and wanted to hear people's views on it, should letters like this be printed in local papers, or should they be stopped from being printed?

Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor, which they

either deem politically incorrect (read below) or which don't agree

with the philosophy they're "pushing" on the public. This woman

wrote a great letter to the editor that should have been published -

but with your help it will get "published" via cyberspace!

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the

Orange County Register:

Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land

is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should

tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question

aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis

Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people

like Mr.Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new

kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush

from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to

get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be

documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and

kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support

their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English

a primary rule in their new American households and some even

changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved good-bye to their birthplace to give their children

a new life and did everything in their power to help their children

assimilate into one culture.

Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labour

laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship

they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most

of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father

fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from

Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation

Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had

come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the

Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America

as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages

were looking for the French-American or the German American or the

Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we

carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those

immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's

flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a

disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here.

These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They

stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the

same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing

with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement

card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm

sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe

that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's

deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice

in raising future generations to create a land that has become a

beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they

would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those

waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty, it

happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the

immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the

United States just yet.

P. S. Pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!!

I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the

nation!!

Answer on Should letters be stopped from being printed by an editor?

I have a degree in journalism and I can tell you this happens all the time. Newspapers gets tons of letters. They can't possibly print them all, so they do have to make decisions on what to cut.

Legally, they are also responsible for whatever gets printed in their pages. (Even if one of their staff members did not write something, they can still get sued for it.) So they have to evaluate things written by the public for content. (They do the same for advertising.)

And, you're right. Some also select letters to support their own editorial positions. (I'm not sure it's ethical to leave out the opposition's viewpoint if you're trying to have a balanced telling of the news, however.)

The fact is, the First Amendment guarantees that the GOVERNMENT can't try and censor your speech - and newspapers are private institutions. They CAN dictate what to leave out.

Pakatan Rakyat

Khamis, 10 Mei 2012

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