A Review of Canton Citizen Op-Ed Content

In the wake of Publisher Beth Erickson’s decision to institute a pause on letters related to the Karen Read trial and in an attempt to address accusations of bias from a segment of our readership, the Canton Citizen recently undertook an internal review of op-ed content that has appeared in our pages over the past 15 months. Below is a summary of our findings:

* Since April 20, 2023, the Citizen has printed more than 50 letters to the editor or statements of opinion pertaining to municipal and police leadership. Of these, 29 were critical of town leaders and/or spoke in defense of their fellow critics, while 28 voiced support/defended town leaders and/or criticized those who were critical.

* Those in the first category expressed distrust in Canton’s leaders, criticized their conduct, made allegations of corruption, questioned CPD’s investigative practices, demanded accountability and oversight, and in a few instances, accused the Citizen of being complicit in what ails the community.

* Those in the second category defended the actions and character of local leaders, praised their track record, lamented the influence of “outsiders,” and blamed what they characterized as a vocal minority of “malcontents” for manufacturing problems and causing chaos in the town.

* During this same timeframe, the Citizen additionally printed 20 letters that could be broadly characterized as political in nature. Of those, 11 either espoused or defended conservative views and/or criticized liberal/progressive views, while 9 espoused/defended liberal views and/or criticized conservative views.

* Also during this timeframe, the Citizen printed 20 letters of support for town election candidates and/or letters from candidates thanking voters; 11 letters that were neutral in tone and more broadly advocated for increased participation/engagement in town affairs; and a smattering of letters about other town issues, such as water use restrictions, intersection upgrades, etc.

* Since April 20, 2023, resident Glenn Shane had the most submissions with 9 (largely critical of town leadership), followed by Rita Lombardi with 8 (harshly critical of town leadership), Gilda McGonagle with 6 (supportive of town leadership and harshly critical of the ‘vocal minority’) and Nick Corkery with 5 (strongly supportive of town leadership and critical of the ‘vocal minority’). The Citizen also printed 3 letters from Elyse Cohen, all of which were critical of town leadership, and 2 letters each from Thomas Taylor and Mary Levrault that expressed support for the town and criticized the ‘vocal minority.’

* During this timeframe, the Citizen published 4 items from Police Chief Helena Rafferty, including a guest column that addressed violence against police officers; selected excerpts from a statement she read at a Canton Select Board meeting in the summer of 2023; a lengthy Q&A in which she addressed some of the criticisms lodged against the CPD; and a response to an inquiry from resident Elyse Cohen about CPD hiring practices.

* The Citizen published several letters that were critical of opinions expressed by Christine Smith, who writes a monthly column from a liberal/progressive perspective. Beginning in September 2023 — and partly due to the urging of resident Gilda McGonagle — the Citizen introduced a new monthly column written by Larry Overlan, head of Canton’s Republican Town Committee. With the exception of one month this past spring due to a scheduling conflict, Smith and Overlan’s columns have appeared in the same issue each month.

* During this timeframe, we declined to publish a total of 4 letters submitted by residents. One contained criticisms of Christine Smith that had already been stated in a prior letter, as well as criticisms we were actively working to (and subsequently did) address. Another was a strongly worded criticism of the town of Canton’s pond treatment program that made claims about public health effects that either lacked citations or were disputed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. (In that instance, we offered to run the letter with edits but the author chose to withdraw it from consideration). Similarly, we requested that the author of another letter criticizing the petitioners of the police audit remove portions that included personal attacks — exposing us to possible legal action — and that letter was subsequently withdrawn. The other letter we declined to publish was formatted as a spreadsheet and contained sweeping generalizations about American citizens without context or explanation.

* Since April 2024, the Citizen has published 3 statements/editorials from Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Beth Erickson. One was an apology for the timing of a letter that was critical of town leaders. Another was a statement of support for renewing Chief Rafferty’s contract, and the third was last week’s announcement of a ‘timeout’ on letters pertaining to the Read case or the pending CPD audit. Since then, Erickson has authored one post on the “Canton First” Facebook group to address false statements made about her editorial decision-making.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=125498

Posted by Jay Turner on Jul 19 2024. Filed under Featured Content, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.