A few weeks ago, I sent a letter to the editor, and it was printed. However, one word had been changed. To me, it made a difference in the message I had intended to convey.
I had written “How badly do I want to continue to volunteer at the Tracy library?” The word “badly” had been replaced with the word “much.”
I had checked my usage of the word “badly” with a school teacher to be sure I was using it correctly.
I doubt that I will ever read a letter to the editor again without wondering what words may have been changed in their letter.
• Editor’s note: The Tracy Press makes a concerted effort to preserve the wording, tone and argument of letters to the editor while editing letters for syntax, grammar and punctuation.
At least that is what happened to me when I wrote a letter to the editor to New York Times years ago. Not sure if the protocol changed that much since?
I think if they dont call and ask first it also seems like infringing on letter writers freedom of speech. And I woulda thought the TP woulda upheld that better given that they lost the lawsuit on their request for printin the Lab's emails?