Shame on you, Enterprise!

To the Editor:

In this age of political correctness when people are afraid of offending everyone and everything on this planet, I was confused as to why The Enterprise would use the word “S---hole” on its opinion page in a headline, no less. [“I love all of our communities and don’t see any so-called ‘shitholes,’” The Altamont Enterprise, Jan. 18, 2018].

I am not taking issue with the author, Mr. Timothy Albright. He has an absolute right to publish his opinion.

My concern is with the editorial policy of your paper. Where is the civility? The Enterprise has used discretion in opinion letters before, so I wonder why you chose to print this word as is. Surely you have seen camouflaged versions of profanity before; we all know what “S---hole” means.

Why do you have to spell it out? Is there some other agenda here? Would you print the “F” word if I sent in a letter or would you exercise better discretion? You may have opened a pandora’s box here. Raise your standards out of the gutter.

We are bombarded with profanity daily. Why do you choose to follow suit? The Enterprise is a local paper and I believe your actions in this matter put the perception of our community in a very poor light.

Don’t you realize how many people read this stuff? How many children glance through the paper, only to see “S---hole” in bold print, and printed [in the letter] no less than 10 times!

Shame on you, Enterprise!

Kevin Cush

Knox

Editor’s note: The Enterprise policy is not to use foul language gratuitously. We use words, in quotes, when they are the subject of a story or, in this case, an opinion piece. The word in question was attributed to President Donald Trump; the letter-writer was criticizing him for it.

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