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March 05, 2007
In Which My Naiveté Shows Like a Schoolgirl Bookstore Denizen's
The latest missive from Billy Blades is up, and underneath the main storyline, which is interesting enough, is an assertion that I hate to admit I hadn't really considered that much:
Now, I think my readers are hipper to the political scene than most, but for those who aren't I need to drop a little knowledge on you: 80% of the LTE's (letters to the editor) that you read during a political campaign are arranged, and often written by, the campaign being endorsed....[A]n LTE presents itself as an organic, spontaneous opinion generated by an excited, engaged or enraged citizen who [simply] had to communicate his or her feelings to their fellow citizens via their local paper or news website.
I can't say I wasn't aware of this, yet I must live in a state of denial. You see, I am "an excited, engaged or enraged citizen" who wrote letters to Chattanoogan.com (or the Village Voice, wherever) before I discovered the ease and wonder of writing my own blog. Without giving it much thought, I would have innocently assumed that all those other people are acting on similar impulses.
Wrapped inside WME's neat little exposé of a cheap publicity trick (as alleged) is the dirty little secret that even some media content not explicitly produced by editors and publishers is manufactured, homogenized fluff meant to mislead.
I've sent my share of letters to Congress that were written by some activist group or another, and sometimes I didn't even include a little personalizing note in the form provided. But mark my word, if you've seen my name on something in print, those were my thoughts, and mine alone.
For more on form letters to and from government officials, check this little dust-up.
I'm also interested as to whether we'll see a response from either Ms. Phifer or Mr. Waterhouse. Maybe they don't read WorstMayorEver.com, but they should, if they want to ensure the relative hipness of the audience. Apparently I'm not much help there.
Politics is Personal | By joe lance | 10:24 PM