This is the first time I have ever written a letter to the Courier-Herald but after finishing my read of your April 20, 2022 edition, including the opinion pieces and Letters to the Editor, I decided to throw caution to the winds and wade right in.
What caught my reader’s eye today and in prior weeks are the responses to Mr. Shannon’s monthly articles, which appear to have caused great consternation in the minds of a few responders. For example, one letter responder wrote in your April 20 edition, “I love the way Dan Shannon talks about how the Democrats don’t get anything done”, which I assume was that reader’s response to Mr. Shannon’s prior weeks column on hair discrimination legislation.
I was a bit taken back by that claim, as I had read Mr. Shannon’s column and didn’t recall him mentioning, inferring or raising a single time the words Democrat, Democrats, liberals, or progressives in his article. Just to be sure, I went back and read it again, and I am correct that there is nothing in there which mentions Democrat, Democrats, liberals, or progressives.
It’s just not there and so why do some readers make such claims?
This is not the first time a reader has sent a Letter to the Editor making misleading claims about contributors they don’t agree with politically, including Mr. Shannon and prior unsubstantiated claims that his work is not being cite checked by the Courier-Herald.
Since a few letter writers have wondered why Mr. Shannon is not required to cite check his submissions, I decided to check for myself to see if I could find support from legitimate sources for his factual claims of his last three articles which appeared in the February, March, and April editions of the Courier-Herald. Sure, it took more than a little bit of sweat equity, much time, research and multiple clicks of my mouse but I found sources from established news and official government websites backing up each and every factual assertion made in those articles.
If you do not wish to do your own research, contact the Courier-Herald itself and ask the editor directly if Mr. Shannon’s work is cite checked. I am sure the editor would be happy to tell you if his submissions are supported with citations.
I am not singling any one letter writer out, but it is my humble suggestion that before anyone publicly decides to take swipes at contributors for articles they don’t philosophically or politically align with by calling such writers liars, manure spreaders, and/or actually attributing to writers, words, phrases or inferences not supported by the record and categorically false, such critiquing person should do their own research to establish if what they are actually saying is true.
Also, when spouting that something is misinformation please back it up with the example you are referring to.
Good tidings to all in 2022, we are all in this thing together. Look forward to next Shannon article.
Laurie Barber
Buckley
