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April 27, 2003
Follow up on Denis Horgan
I forwarded a friend of mine an email I sent the Hartford Courant earlier today about Denis Horgan's situation. He asked for permission to post it on his site and I thought I would post it here as well. Here it is:
I caught wind of Denis Horgan being told to shut down a weblog or
journal that he writes in at http://www.denishorgan.com and it is
appalling. I could understand if he was writing on company time,
attempting to profit from it but he isn't.
Brian Toolan's comment, "Denis Horgan's entire professional profile is a
result of his attachment to The Hartford Courant" is utterly ridiculous.
The writers make a paper what it is, not the other way around. If it
weren't for them, the paper would have no stream of revenue from
advertisers because readership depends on content. This isn't to say
that the journalistic reputation of the newspaper is not important,
quite the contrary, but to say it is what makes a writer who he or she
is is completely false. If it were true, then you should be able to hire
anyone, teach them how to write and the newspaper's reputation should do
the rest.
His writing online at a minimum can only serve to help the newspaper.
People respond to honest voices and when you read what a writer has to
say in addition to their normal content, a sense of trust is developed
which can only help strengthen that voice. In the end, it is the voices
of the writers at the Hartford Courant that help make the paper what it
is today, if it weren't then every single story would be fine just
ripped from Reuters and A.P.
I hope after reading this, it makes a minute impact and causes people at
the Courant to think twice about freedom of expression. The first
amendment not only gives freedom of the press but freedom for
individuals to speak freely.
--
Ed Saipetch
Posted by beamz at April 27, 2003 2:53 AM