SocraticGadfly: I couldn't do it, High Country News

June 22, 2020

I couldn't do it, High Country News

Your refusal to apologize for the absolute dreck guest piece from Melanin Base Camp, combined with you disallowing letters to the editor because it was an online-only piece, still sticks in my craw too much.

So, a year of digital-only access for $12? Yes, cheap. But ... can't do it.

That's not the only unapologized error. Getting cap-and-trade on climate change confused with a carbon tax is sad. It was one of several errors at around the same time late last year that went both unacknowledged and uncorrected. That was followed this year by a puff piece about incremental steps being taken on climate change (even if unmeasured and unmeasurable) can win the battle.

More recently than that? Willful hypocrisy about throwing black Cherokees under the bus of non-acknowledgement. And, "noble savage" and "environmental wisdom of the elders" legends here.

All of this comes from guest pieces. Put a bookmark there. That second link also has what I see as multiple ethical problems with winners from last year's photo contest.

Hey, on a piece by a freelancer recently, I did get acknowledgement they'd look at a possible error on what I KNOW FROM MY OWN MEDIA EXPERIENCE is an error.

Maybe, if you offer this special again in the fall, and you've fessed up to something, I'll sign up again.

Until then, no.

And, I know I don't like admitting all of my newspaper mistakes. (And some smaller ones, I don't do so in print, maybe.) That said, issues like climate change? Western economics? These aren't small ones.

Maybe we should get High Country News to have Melanin Base Camp write about the black Cherokees!

As I said at the one link, I recognize it's not love-hate, but it IS a love-frustration relationship with HCN. Until that changes ....

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