Friend of the blog Lanny Stricherz tells me that the Watertown Public Opinion was going to charge him $100 to print his letter to the editor, because it was a political letter.
Apparently money really is speech... or, more accurately and dismayingly, you don't get to do political speech unless you have money. Grrr.
Here's Lanny's letter about the GOP Senate race, printed free of charge:
Many folks think that the two recognizable names in the Republican primary, Mike Rounds and Larry Rhoden, because of their time in the Legislature and Mr. Rounds as Governor, are the two conservatives most likely to win election this fall in the General Election. I think that the evidence shows that is not the case. As Governor, Rounds and various departments and agencies of State government pursued 10 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) dairy farms, to pollute our land and water in Eastern South Dakota, two of which employed illegal immigrants and went bankrupt.
They gave economic development money to Anderson Seeds, which also went bankrupt and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to South Dakota farmers. They wasted our taxpayer dollars pursuing the Big Stone II power plant.. Even more tax dollars were wasted pursuing the Hyperion oil refinery and coal burning power plant down at Elk Point.
Then to top it all off, they promoted the EB-5 program and its relationship to the Northern Beef Packing plant in Aberdeen, in which 10s if not hundreds of millions of investment dollars were lost on an idea that should never have been hatched in the first place, when the plant went bankrupt and the newly created 250 jobs were lost. The oversight by Rounds of this program was not only lacking, but because of the results was criminal.
The conservative in the race is Stace Nelson and he has proven his allegiance to South Dakota by standing up to the party in the legislature and his service to the country as a US Marine and a criminal investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Lanny V Stricherz
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
The idea of charging for letters to the editor... well, I suppose it was inevitable in today's world. "Get rich, then you can vote!" French PM, 1848, right before a revolution.
Yet another sign of the increasing irrelevance of daily newspapers in South Dakota. Watertown's paper is a Chamber of Commerce rag in a regional market that has been in an economic decline for the last 20 years.
Charging money for a letter to the editor is a pathetic statement on the professional attitudes (or lack of them) by the PO's top management. They need to sell the paper and go into the insurance sales business. They know nothing about the newspaper business.
Steve Hickey acknowledged Rick's point: he never got his letter about anal sex published, but he still got national attention by putting online, for free.
It's surprising that the PO would try to charge for a letter to the editor as it is par for the course for political campaigns to write 'talking point letters' and search for someone to sign their name to them. This one seems like it was actually written by the author.
And....the previous owners of the PO did sell at exactly the right time about a decade ago and promptly moved out of state. They were good people...the new leadership....panders to the Cornerstone church crowd a little too much...
They should change their name to the Watertown Purchased Opinion
You all are writing something about a what??? a newspaper??? What is that?
Another step taken on a dying industry's march to irrelevance.
I believe we can thank the Tea Party and their astroturf cut and paste LTE campaigns.
Unfortunately, the newspapers were either too incurious or lazy to sort those out...so voila...paid LTEs.
One has to wonder if the money they make is worth the damage to their reputation.
Lanny great letter and good job! Besides the Watertown Purchased Opinion are you sending the letters across the state to other daily and weekly newspapers? Any other papers charging for a political letter to the editor?
Thr Rapid City Journal is a bargin. They only charge $15.00 and the online is free.
Letters to the editor
Mail: Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City, SD 57709.
Phone: 394-8427
Email: letters@rapidcityjournal.com Fax: 394-8463
Letters limited to 200 words and must include full name, address, phone number and signature. Two per month. Letters may be edited.
There is a $15 charge to print election letters. Non-paid election letters will be posted online only at rapidcityjournal.com/onlineletters
I agree that the flood of "cut and paste" letters in the past election cycles has been a problem. I check several newspapers on line around the country and can usually find political letters that are identical wording with a name change to a local canidate. Many can be traced back to Think Tanks and Political Action Commitees that encourage their followers to flood the print media with these template letters..
bar gin indeed.
Good stuff Lanny. Truthful and to the point, no wonder the paper did not like it.
Here is my original letter for which I had to change the beginning because it was Argus Leader specific. The Argus Leader published it last Sunday. A couple from Grant county asked me to send it the PO because of a court issue they are fighting on another CAFO in Grant county. I had a letter or two published in the PO when I lived in Sisseton, and I don't remember ever writing a letter that wasn't political so I was shocked when they said 100 bucks.
I read Alan Aker's Letter to the editor this morning, April 30 espousing that the conservative candidatie for US Senate is Larry Rhoden. He said that there are only two conservatives who can win the Senate seat in November, Rhoden or Rounds. How can Aker call either of these two conservative, when they wasted so much of our tax dollars on failed and or corrupt economic development programs, Rounds as Governor, and Rhoden as his waterboy in the House as majority leader?
As Governor, Rounds and so by default various departments and agencies of State government, pursued 10 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) dairy farms, to pollute our land and water in Eastern South Dakota, Two of which employed illegal immigrants and went bankrupt.
They gave economic development money to Anderson Seeds, which also went bankrupt and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to South Dakota farmers. They wasted our taxpayer dollars pursuing the Big Stone II power plant.. Even more tax dollars were wasted pursuing the Hyperion oil refinery and coal burning power plant down at Elk Point.
Then to top it all off, they promoted the EB-5 program and its relationship to the Northern Beef Packing plant in Aberdeen, in which 10s if not hundreds of millions of investment dollars were lost on an idea that should never have been hatched in the first place, when the plant went bankrupt and the newly created 250 jobs were lost. The oversight by Rounds of this program was not only lacking, but because of the results was criminal.
The conservative in the race is Stace Nelson and he has proven his allegiance to South Dakota by standing up to the party in the legislature and his service to the country as a US Marine and a criminal investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Lanny V Stricherz
By the way, Cory, from now on, I want 100 bucks for every post I put on your blog, because the PO has already established their value. LOL
I got your hundred dollars Lanny. I will call them right now.
Who at the Public Opinion told you that Lanny?
Donna at 605-886-6901.
But don't do it Bree, it is the principle of the thing. Screw them and the trolley car they came in on.
They actually had an article with Rhoden claiming to be second in the race. PP is talking about it on the DWC. I'm tired of politicians and their false claims. Your letter deserves to be printed.
Good letter Lanny. Letters to the editor is unique to newspapers in the dialogue on public opinion. It is not available in other media and so they should capitalize on it as a way to raise readership rather than to charge for it.
Bree: PP doesn't have a pot or a window and will do anything for ten cents.
Lanny, they say I need your permission to pay for the letter. Is it okay?
PP is constantly and desperately begging for business, Larry. Maybe if he ran a better blog instead of an obvious rag conservatives would be willing to advertise with him.
They are terrified by Howie and Pressler, Bree.
Sibby is over there raising hell about how corrupt SDGOP is.
Well, I'm not going 'over there' to engage w/ him, but at least (for once) he (Sibby) is right.
They should be terrified. Rounds is going to lose because of Howie and Pressler. If he cared about God, Country, and Party he'd leave the race because of the EB-5 cloud over his head.
The fact is the only real difference between Weiland and Rounds is Weiland isn't owned by the Chinese. So why would any Republican vote for Rounds?
Bree, unless you have an agenda, of which I am not aware, I would prefer that you not pay for it. If it was important enough for me to have it printed, I could come up with the hundred bucks. But on principle, I just see it as wrong to start paying for political letters to the editor. If you do have an agenda, and want to share it with me, Cory can give you my email address.
Yesterday on Bill Janklow's idea of public radio Seth Tupper said he believes that Pressler will take equal votes from Weiland and the nominee for the earth haters: Jon Ellis seemed to agree.
Democrats are united: how any could vote for Pressler seems ridiculous.
Larry, If you stop and think about it, it is not ridiculous. People on both sides have gotten sick and tired of the partisanship in politics and the first thing tht they are looking at is honesty, which automatically leaves out some of the candidates. The second thing is, in whom does the candidate place his loyalty? If it is the party, or if it is anyone beside the people that he or she represents, the State and the Nation, then again, he or she has no right to my vote or for that matter, your vote.
Following that line of thinking, Pressler does not seem quite so ridiculous.
Lanny, their publisher Mark Roby is fair and evenly applies his policies to everyone. He told me that if you want to take out the candidates names he would publish it for free just like he does for all letters to the editor that don't name current candidates.
I am done with bipartisanship, Lanny. Susan Wismer was adamant on Bill Janklow's idea of public radio today about how pathetic Pierre has become: until Democrats boot 'independents' out of primaries we have little control of our own politics.
I don't know why very many Dems would vote for Pressler either. He is a Republican after all and the Democratic Party seems pretty liberal to me in this state.
It looks like the republicans and indies that want to repeal Obamacare are not real conservative. Here is the latest and it just keeps getting better, this is a moolah saver, no doubt. Take it Back Weiland, Take it Back. Hammer these bozoheads on their death panels that are present here with the Medicaid Expansion in the dust bin. Oh, here is the 900 Billion with a B that proves http://crfb.org/blogs/900-billion-slowdown-federal-health-care-spendingmy point.
Yowser, that is some big time moolah man.
Does that still make sense?
Many folks think that the two recognizable names in the Republican primary, because of their time in the legislature and one as Governor are the two conservatives most likely to win election this fall in the General Election. I think that the evidence shows that is not the case. As Governor, one of them, and so by default various departments and agencies of State government, pursued 10 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) dairy farms, to pollute our land and water in Eastern South Dakota, Two of which employed illegal immigrants and went bankrupt.
They gave economic development money to Anderson Seeds, which also went bankrupt and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to South Dakota farmers. They wasted our taxpayer dollars pursuing the Big Stone II power plant.. Even more tax dollars were wasted pursuing the Hyperion oil refinery and coal burning power plant down at Elk Point.
Then to top it all off, they promoted the EB-5 program and its relationship to the Northern Beef Packing plant in Aberdeen, in which 10s if not hundreds of millions of investment dollars were lost on an idea that should never have been hatched in the first place, when the plant went bankrupt and the newly created 250 jobs were lost. The oversight by the former governor, of this program was not only lacking, but because of the results was criminal.
The conservative in the race is the ex-Marine and he has proven his allegiance to South Dakota by standing up to the party in the legislature and his service to the country as a US Marine and a criminal investigator with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Lol, Lanny. What I'm trying to say is you could write a letter to the editor on the CAFO and EB-5 problems and if you're slick you could probably say "under the previous administration" or something like that and get away with it, and it would be free.
But that is just it, Bree, I am not slick. You have the ammunition, maybe you should write the LTE.
Spending my ammunition on other things, Lanny.
Newspapers and small town groceries have it all figured out. If they sell less of anything, increase the price. They are apparently unaware of positive feedback. Our local weekly won't accept any ads that mention the name of a local business--- even one that no longer exists as a local business and is neither criticized nor endorsed.
I would consider voting for Pressler. I heard him speak, and I like what he said about serving completely independent of party leadership, voting his conscience, and not having to raise money from any special interests to get re-elected in 6 years because he won't run again. At this point I'm convinced he's pretty middle of the road, and perhaps even progressive on some things. But I don't want to throw away my vote either. So when election day rolls around I'll make an assessment whether Weiland or Pressler has a better shot. I'm impressed with the campaign Weiland is running, and with his issue positions.
In DC I want someone who will talk straight and not sling around false partisan talking points (like Rounds' commercial) or showboat with 30+ doomed votes like Noem on Obamacare. I want a real problem solver, not some partisan hack trolling for votes for the next election. I think Pressler could be that person, and hopefully Weiland can be too. I haven't heard Weiland tell any lies yet, and I like his positions on issues.
It is time to boycott the advertisers in the public opinion. This paper is also known as the private opinion. They hide be hind their editorial board to bash what ever when ever. How ever will never allow letters to be printed from the other side. It is time to tell tell those advertising you will not buy there products and services until they drop their ads ad Publisher Mark Roby is fired
Lanny, at that rate, your participation to this date on this blog would have earned you over $55,000.
Larry, Curt, I'm getting nervous. Does Sibby's return to seemingly reasonable comments mean he's about to become a useful conditional ally in fighting the powers? Could Sibby be lotting to become the pnly blogger to participate in the 2004 blogstorm against Daschle and the much less astroturfy 2014 blogstorm against Rounds?
WR, Jana, if I ran a newspaper, I'd run the LTE page the way I run this comment section: my paper, my editorial choice as to what runs and what goes in the trash. If I smell spam -- i.e., cut-and-paste from either party -- I don't waste my readers' time with it. Newspapers seem to have lost the confidence to exercise that control. They could take ownership of the problem and make the hard but perfectly justifiable editorial call that is their right and responsibility to make... but instead they surrender and make public expression costly for their neighbors.