Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 2 · column 1 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
WHEN a “controversy” erupts in a community, especially a small, rural community, it is inevitable that someone—or a lot of people—wind up blaming the newspaper. Letters to the editor in the accompanying columns are undoubtedly representative of an attitude that is wide spread.
The press was blamed for Richard Nixon’s disgrace, and for all we know, there might be some people who blame the press for this winter’s bitter weather. The mere reporting of events, in some people’s minds, is tantamount to “polarizing” the community. There is even a feeling that public officials ought not to speak frankly in public.
Such people are free to think what they please, of course, but it is not our concept of a newspaper’s duties to the community that public officials should be protected from their own remarks, nor that public disputes should be ignored. All we have done in the case of the disagreement between Commonwealth’s Attorney George Davis and Sheriff William Buntin, over mileage payments for deputies, is to report what has been said in public meetings.
For the record—since the point has been raised—this newspaper has not “vilified”
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