February 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, The now infamous letter to the editor from Kira Semler required 2 corrections.The Semler letter to the editor of the Ridgewood news caused a furor on social media at the time. Initially, the letter suggested among other things that the former “breath of fresh air ” Village manager was fired when in fact she resigned.The misinformation in the letter was later edited out by the Ridgewood News but not before the damage was done.
The Ridgewood New has now for a second time corrected the letter, the “clarification ” came this past week just as the social media firestorm was dying down. The Ridgewood reaffirmed critics of its editorial policy that the former Village manager did in fact resign on September 6th and she was relieved of her duties on the very same day.
Note that the newspaper took no responsibility whatsoever for publishing such an error laden letter. The editor sucks. Not the first time she’s screwed up like this.
“There are plenty of empty lots in the central business district perfect for a parking garage.”
Yogi Berra would be proud of this statement.
After 50 years of this paper i just recently canceled.
Since when is it an editor’s responsibility to correct opinion letters? The letter stands on its own and if people don’t like it or refute the statements then it’s up to individuals, not the paper. Ms. Kemler is not a reporter for the Ridgewood News to my knowledge.
The assertion that “there are plenty of empty lots in the CBD that would be perfect for a garage” still cracks me up every time I read it. You cannot make this stuff up. Perhaps the Ridgewood News published it for the comedic value?
The letter contained erroneous information. It was not fact checked as it should have been.
12:04 You are incorrect on so many levels. First of all, the Ridgewood News and The Record have a long history of fact-checking letters to the editor and making the author correct the letter or it does not get printed. A person does not have the right to say whatever the hell they feel like when writing a letter to the editor, unless it is purely opinion. To state that Roberta Sonenfeld was “capriciously fired” by the mayor was an out-and-out lie. To state that the council is enacting scams is not an opinion, it is an indictment. A scam is an intentional fraudulent act that usually involves getting money from someone. For Ms. Semler to state that the council is involved in scams requires some kind of factual back-up (of course there is none). An opinion would be something along the lines of “I think that what they are doing is wrong” or “I think they are all out of their minds” but not to state that they are doing things that are factually untrue. The Ridgewood News was completely irresponsible in letting this letter get through and their pitiful attempts to correct or alter have fallen way short.
I just cancelled my subscription as well, although I only lasted 20 years!!
12:04, over the years I have submitted many letters to the editor of the Ridgewood News (various editors). Any statement not clearly phrased as an opinion was fact checked, often more than I personally considered necessary. I had to supply documentation, explain, etc. Sometimes a letter was edited (always with my approval) and sometimes not printed at all. No newspaper is obligated to publish any letter to the editor in whole or in part. To publish outright lies as flat statements that could easily have been checked was journalistically and ethically unacceptable. This letter was full of them, including the implication that the mayor can fire anybody at will. We have checks and balances; that could never have happened, and in fact did not.