Where did it go?
Yesterday there was a post on this board from someone (I forget her name) who has posted before looking for individual stories for an upcoming book/series of articles/testimony before a government panel. (I also can't remember which.) It seemed perfectly harmless, though I had to wonder if she was planning on profitting from these stories through publication. In any case, yesterday's post seemed different. She was very upset about an article that supposedly appeared in a newspaper in her home state of Alabama. In it, a local mayor was quoted as saying that he was planning a virtual "Open Season" on obese people in his town. All manner of derogetory terms were used for obese people, and fines and other actions were promised. When I read it I was shocked, but soon after became skeptical. The language was SO disrespectful and the proposed measures SO over-the-top that I wondered if somebody wasn't perpetrating a hoax on somebody.
Anyway, today I came in and that post is missing. What happened? Did anyone else see it? I'm wondering if maybe someone in charge found that the so-called article was actually more like an urban myth. If this is the case, I hope someone from OH will post a retraction on the message board. God knows that obese people face all kinds of challenges, many coming from close-minded and nasty people we meet way too often. We certainly don't need to believe that politicians are openly waging war on us if this is not, in fact, the case.
Found the thread on the main msg board - better hurry up and read it before they pull it.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/messageboard/postdetail/534738.html?vc=0
I have found the post and read it and its just ridiculious! Who came up with such a fine as $25.00 for being overweight. Why would he run for mayor, after he became elected, (IF HE DID) there would be no decent people left in that town anyway. So why would they need a mayor?
Some people have some nerve.........
I am going to end with that, don't want to get banned from the message board forums!!!
Brandi
OPEN rny 7-7-04 at 7:30am
Wish me luck!
For what it's worth, I just spoke with a reporter at the SHELBY COUNTY REPORTER. He told me that the "article" in question was, in fact, a paid advertisement from the local nut-job candidate in question. He was on deadline and couldn't talk at length (though he was very polite and accomodating) and he asked that I call after noon and ask for the Editor, Candace Parker. When I asked for confirmation that it was indeed a "paid" advertisement and not an article, he hedged a bit and referred me again to the editor.
Now, I've worked for newspapers in the past, in ad departments. Sometimes the line between paid ads and legitimate news content is quite blurred, with an average reader not always able to distinguish between the two.
That being said, one might still criticize the paper for running such an inflammatory ad. Newspapers can, and often do, turn down ads for a variety of reasons. The glitch here is that I believe political ads are a very special breed. Different rules apply to them. For example, all political ads must be charged at the same low rate; no discounts for anyone. It's not hard to imagine, in a country such as ours, that some nutcase, under the banner of "running" for one office or another, would get to print the ridiculous trash that started this whole thing.
In the meantime, I'm keeping on eye on this thing just to see where it winds up.
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