From Tammy Shaw, Maj, USAF

Washington DC, formerly Darlington

To the Editor:

I’m an out-of-state recipient of a Republican Journal subscription, and a steadfast reader of the County Board meetings’ coverage. I rely on this information to keep abreast of decisions impacting my WI family and friends’ livelihood, safety, and wellbeing. These meetings are also an excellent gauge of whether elected officials are serving the interests of the community they were entrusted to represent. I find the quoted comments from elected officials at the May Board of Supervisors meeting incredibly disappointing.

The quoted statements suggest that votes were cast based on personal feelings, not on the best interest of your constituents. Your name was misspelled? I promise that most Lafayette County residents know how to spell your name. The newspaper reported the reason for your absence? Not reporting this would have been journalistically irresponsible. The American public (appropriately) lambasts state and federal agencies for not disclosing such gaps, and this is a cost of being a public servant. I’m very sorry that your family had to find out this way, but please recognize that this is not a failure of the press.

The issue at hand was selection of an official newspaper to disseminate information to your constituents, and must be based on facts — not feelings. The largest reach to your community should be your aim, as the people of our republic relies on fact-based reporting to make better-informed decisions for themselves and their families. Democracy dies in darkness. If you don’t like how your actions and words are depicted and quoted, then act and speak differently. Don’t try to dim the light of truth by limiting the reach of the journalists covering it. Wisconsinites are better than this.