Letter to the Editor: PORT OF CALL

Upon reading the June/July issue of PORT OF CALL, I am concerned with the content and direction of the publication. I do not advocate censorship, nor do I support suppressing free dialogue and objective discussion about controversial subjects. I do, however, insist upon responsible journalism, and unbiased reporting outside of the aegis of the editorial column.

It seems as if the editor has adopted a policy of making all articles with his byline into editorials, without benefit of acknowledging them as such.

While all members have an equal and unqualified right to express opinions, I reserve my right to challenge editorial abuse. I object to political editorializing presented in multiple articles, comprising the majority of the publication's content, as "facts" when the contents of the articles contain assumptions without support, allegations, leaps of convoluted logic, and right-wing rhetoric

PORT OF CALL is published as an official organ of Intertel, subsidized by the dues of its membership. I resent any part of my dues supporting such biased, one-sided, and blatantly self-serving material. Intertel is not a political organization, nor should its publications be politically oriented.

I suppose I am one of those the Editor refers to when he mentions a possible "shift in tone and content" in the PORT OF CALL. I do not advocate benign topics as the only appropriate material, but I also do not accept that political rhetoric containing inflammatory and provocative material is the preferred alternative. Limit the editorializing to the editor's column, and use the rest of the publication to present material submitted by other members, or fact-based material that is not an extension of the editorial column.

As a matter of personal interest, Kort, I am not a fan of the present administration, nor of the bureaucracy of the government as it exists today, so do not assume that this is submitted in defense of the government, or its agents.

Dan Boone