Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 20 2004 @ 07:36 PM GMT+5

I am not knowledgeable, particularly, about the Reformer. But I disagree with the statement that the option to make anonymous postings should be removed. I think that that option is one of the things that makes this forum great! You get to find out what people are REALLY thinking. That's something you don't really get from the newpapers. You can berate people for lack of "courage" to post their names, but the bottom line is that this forum would indeed be much more dry and much less interesting without the anonymous option. You would have to peer through a carefully constructed filter to get what was really being said if everyone put their name.

Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 20 2004 @ 07:51 PM GMT+5

Yes indeed. Some of us are in positions where if we were to speak our minds, we would end up paying professionally for that freedom.

Therefore our anonymity often is due much more to narrow-mindedness in many of the ''powers that be'' then because of any lack of courage on our own part. There is courage, and their is fool-hardyness, two different things.

Authored by: gfv on Tuesday, April 20 2004 @ 08:04 PM GMT+5

May we not be so concerned about speaking our minds and our
opinions because our income sources may be threatened...

May we not be so afraid to take a stand and even to go to jail in
support of that which we find to be of moral value.

May we not regret that we have stood and been counted not as
an anonymous voice but instead for something that means
something to you

( I agree with J Wilmerding --- btw - it's Dan Barlow not
James)

May the fools be heard ... may we remember that the mighty
oak grows from what yesterday was considered a nut...

"Love like your life depends on it.........


cuz it does."

M. Franti




---
here's the issue- If we do not show up now to stop the nuke next year may be too late after they extend the license 30 years... please help

Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 20 2004 @ 08:12 PM GMT+5

Religious fundamentalists have a LONG history of torturing and killing those who most strongly disagree with them. (You think it can't happen here? I wish I thought that!) And I have kids to protect too. So its not just about the money.

So please, do keep feeling superior because you never need be anonymous, that sounds fun for you. But some of us will keep our strongest postings in a no-name situation only, for now.

Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 21 2004 @ 12:04 AM GMT+5

I always sign my posts.

Rip Van Winkle

Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 21 2004 @ 05:31 AM GMT+5

First I would like to say that I agree it would be nice if everyone would take credit for their comments here, we live in a "free" country and should be able to, unfortunatly some of us would lose to much by simply putting our names to our opinions. Let's think about the freedoms we have in our country. Our children have the freedom to go to bed hungry, they have the freedom to not be able to receive proper medical care because the price tag makes it so only the well-to-do can afford it, and if they are lucky to have insurance, the HMO's have taken care of the freedom to choose where and when they will be treated. We have the freedom to express our opinion and freedom of the press....Kate is a wonderful example of this. She has spent the last 3 years fighting against big business controling the Media and look where she is today fired from the job she gave her heart and soul to for 3 years! Some of you love her and some of you hate her....wonderful proof that she was doing her job and doing it well. Even on this site not everyone agrees people all have their own minds, that is what makes the principals America was founded on so great! Unfortunatly those principals have never fully come to life - the great theories our country was founded on are nothing more than words on paper that have been changed and modified to pacify the masses, while at the same time keeping them down and controled. However, because we do have our own minds many of us can see through this and are not happy about it. When we do express our opinions and outrage we stand to lose much more than just our free thinking. I think it is great that a place exisits for the Brattleboro Community to express their opinions and have a discussion without fear of reprecussion. Under ideal circustances I would love to sign my name and take credit for my thoughts, but can I do this at the expensive of my livelyhood and that of my family - NO. I remain Anonymous not because of shame about what I have to say, but because of fear. It is sad that so many must live this way! What Brattleboro really needs is a truly Community owned and run Daily paper! Media News Group is not part of our community, and to look at the staff at the Reformer today, not many of them are either. The new editor wants to cover more local events, but does he have the knowledge to do so? Even the new publisher knows little about Brattleboro. At least David Emmons made an effort to get out into the community and meet people. Has anyone even seen the new guy out in public? The local paper is fast becoming a tool for big business to push their agenda we need a true community paper. I thought for a while the VT Observer was going to step up to the plate, but even that remains in question. It takes courage. All of you who dare to sign your name Do you have the courage to do it for real? I've heard rumors that ibrattleboro has thought of moving to print. I bet I know where you can find a staff willing, ready and able to get your publication off the ground!

Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 21 2004 @ 10:52 AM GMT+5

Heh! Yes, I see that. I too sign mine.

--Michel Nostradamus

Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 21 2004 @ 10:53 AM GMT+5

Now that . . . that is an interesting idea!

Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, May 19 2004 @ 05:48 PM GMT+5

Huh,
Is J Wilmerding outraged by the anonymity, or outraged by anonymous people having opinions that are different than his?

I'll stay anonymous, and I'll continue to laugh at the poor grasp of "newspapering" that nearly all of these "outraged" people have.

Hardly anyone seems to have any idea about the difference between editorials and articles, opinion and bias, or public and private.
Just because you agree with Kate Casa's editorials, doesn't make her a good editor. Just because you agree with Eesha Williams' particular bias, doesn't make him a good reporter.
The fact of the matter is, I happened to agree with both of them. But they both were lousy as editor and reorter, and readers were not well-served by them.
I do agree, however, that readers are no better off now then they were before.

Authored by: signifyingsimian on Sunday, December 12 2004 @ 12:30 PM GMT+5

Gary is definitely a courageous person. But it is not for him to tell others what risks they ought to take. Some people have families to support, and some types of income are more vulnerable than other ways of supporting oneself.

As for the bruhaha about Kathryn Casa: She did not say a word of support either for Eesha Williams or for James Pentland, so sause for the gander is sause for the goose.