Feel the pulse of the public

To the Editor:

This letter is an open challenge to the editor and staff at The Altamont Enterprise to forgo the policy that every letter must be signed, with an address, to be printed in your paper.

Forgo the policy for just one month and you will really feel the pulse of the public. You will really feel what these small communities feel about what’s going on.

These people are scared that, if they say what they really feel, they will be targets.

If they can send a letter to the editor anonymously, you will be amazed what the public has to say. I don’t want to hear, “It’s always been our policy” or, “Our staff would be overwhelmed.”

Put your policy on hold for just one month and, as far as being overwhelmed, what journalist doesn’t want an abundance of news?

Take the challenge; you will really hear what people think about the ATVs in Berne, how people who live along the county rail trail have had their privacy and serene lives disrupted by ignorant people, how the village of Voorheesville is turning into the city of Voorheesville, how our hamlets are not getting any speed enforcement.

The list goes on and on.

If people agree with me, please write to The Enterprise and ask them to take the challenge. Let people write letters to the editor anonymously for just one month.

If people can write a letter of their feelings without fear of retribution, you will be surprised by how they feel.

Take the challenge.

Mike L. Stiffen

New Scotland

Editor’s note: People have plenty of venues on social media where they can and do post their feelings anonymously. What distinguishes The Enterprise is, as a newspaper, we check facts and require names. This accountability is why readers rely on us.

Confirming identities and checking assertions is far more work than running letters without that. The only time we withhold the name of a letter writer is if that person’s life or livelihood is threatened; even then, we know who the writer is.

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