As I get older, I’ve found myself growing more intolerant of intolerance. The differences in people are what make them unique and the choices they make are their own, so long as they don’t harm anyone else. That’s my basic philosophy of life, I guess.
That’s why the calls and notes I received following our publication of a story on a Monroe gay couple’s civil union ceremony so disconcerting. There were cancelations of the paper and some choice words offered — including one letter writer who essentially compared me to the wicked of Sodom — but that’s fine. We ran the story because it was a good story on an important topic.
And I’d do it again next week.
What troubles me, however, is the level of vitriol — the hatred out there for people just trying to live their lives. Their union has no impact on the rest of us. It is no threat to my marriage, nor do I suspect it threatens anyone else’s. (That the state has not seen fit to call civil unions marriage is a travesty and another example of the Legislature’s unwillingness to lead.)
Frank and Stephen love each other and their love makes the world a better place. Can the same be said about Brittney and Kevin? Or about any of the other five-minute marriages that have become a Hollywood staple?
But I digress. The issue that came up was about my politics and whether it affects what I assign and where I place it. Essentially, I was accused of having an agenda.
Here, in it’s entirety, is the Editor’s Note I wrote as a response for today’s edition of The Cranbury Press:
A story is a story
Angry readers are a given in the newspaper business.
After all, not everything we do casts everyone in a positive light and not everyone might agree with the positions we take on the Town Forum page.
Politicians, for instance, tend not to like stories that raise questions about their actions or shed light on their failures. And I’ve lost count of the calls and e-mails I’ve received over the years regarding my criticism of the president and the Iraq War.
So it shouldn’t have surprised me that some readers took offense at a story on Monroe’s first civil union that ran on Page 1 of last week’s paper.
The piece, which included a Page 1 photo and several photos on the jump page, told the story of Stephen Lourie and Frank Pisciotta’s 30-year relationship and their decision to take advantage of the state’s new civil union law.
I received several calls complaining about the story — one called it “garbage” — and a handful of readers canceled their subscription.
One sent me this note, which is probably representative of the negative comments I’d received:
“I just canceled my subscription and I hope many more do! When The Cranbury Press sees fit to announce on the front page about a bunch of homosexual old men
it’s time to go. There are so many more important things going on in our community but it’s obvious you have another agenda other than reporting on what people really care about.”Nearly everyone accused the paper, or me directly, of having an agenda, of using the news columns to push my point of view.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, I believe that gays and lesbians should have the right to marry — as I’ve written in my Dispatches column on numerous occasions. I believe a lot of things, but I never let my political beliefs color my news choices.
Iraq is an example. I have been a vocal critic of the Iraq War, but that has not prevented us from running stories on returning soldiers who remain supportive of the mission — most recently in February, when former Jamesburg Borough Councilman Carlos Morales returned from a five-month tour of duty in southern Iraq. The Morales story ran up front because it was an important news story with a local angle.
It is the same reason that we assigned the civil union story that ran on Page 1: It was news. It was the first civil union in Monroe under the state’s new and controversial civil union law.
It was that simple. No agenda, just a commitment to presenting the news — even if it makes some readers angry.
Let me know if you agree.
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Hank Kalet 