AAAUUURRRGGGGHHHHH

[THUNDER HANDS]

I'm mad.

Why?

Because two days ago I wrote a letter to Newsday, my hometown Long Island paper and the sixth largest paper in circulation in the country.

I wrote it in regards to an editorial written about the New Jersey Nets and how star player Jason Kidd doesn't want the team to move from Jersey to the Island. Newsday knocked him and I defended him. The following are the original letter I wrote and what actaully appeared in the paper this morning....


This is my original letter:

Who exactly is Newsday to tell Jason Kidd where the best place for him to play is? He signed on for six more years with the Nets because he had already moved his family to New Jersey, enrolled his children in New Jersey schools and apparently, very much likes it there. He personally turned around the Nets franchise and for the last two years, has saved Metropolitan-area basketball fans from not having any exciting games to watch.
If Kidd says he doesn’t want to play on Long Island, that’s his opinion. And with his play the last two years, he’s earned the right to have his say. Stop picking on the Nets and New Jersey just because Kidd is smart enough to realize the Nassau Coliseum is a dump, Long Island taxes are too high and traffic is too congested to make the experience of playing out here enjoyable.
As a life-long Nets fan, there’s nothing I’d like to see more than the Nets return to Long Island…except, them returning to Long Island without Jason Kidd.

This is what Newsday printed:

Regarding the editorial "It's Not That We've Got Anything Against N.J. ... " : Who exactly is Newsday to tell Jason Kidd where the best place for him to play is?

He signed on for six more years with the Nets because he had moved his family to New Jersey, and apparently likes it. He personally turned around the Nets franchise and for the last two years has saved New York-area basketball fans from not having any exciting games to watch.

If Kidd says he doesn't want to play on Long Island, that's OK. With his performance the last two years, he's earned the right to have his say.

Stop picking on the Nets, and stop picking on New Jersey, just because Kidd is smart enough to realize that the Nassau Coliseum is a dump, Long Island taxes are too high and traffic is too heavy to make the experience of playing here enjoyable. As a Nets fan, there's nothing I'd like to see more than the team return to Long Island - without Jason Kidd.


WHAT THE HELL IS THAT. I DIDN'T SAY "without Jason Kidd" - that is totally the opposite of what I said.

I will also note that there were two other letters on the subject next to mine. Both were bashing Kidd also and taking Newsday's side.

This is the first letter I've ever written to a newspaper. And just for those who don't know - I used to be a newspaper reporter myself and from what I remember, we never changed a letter to fit the spin my newspaper was trying to put on a story.

I'm really pissed off now. Should I call Newsday and cuss someone out, or just let it go?

[VermontDem2004]

1. I know this is off the subject

but what happened to Sharpton and the Jets? Also I would take Marbary(I didn't spill it right) over Kidd any day.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. I changed it last night

I retired Al so some other DUer could use him if they want. And the Jets, well, basketball season is starting soon and I'm waiting for the basketball avatars.

[Bossy Monkey]

3. Write and ask for a correction to run in the LTTE section,

then let it go.

As you say, they printed exactly the opposite of what you actually wrote.

[Red_Storm]

4. Newsday is the 6th largest paper in the country ?............

Wow didn't know that.....what's the circulation number (estimate) for the island and city editions......just curious ?

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. Actually, I mistated, it's not 6th anymore

I used to be a few years ago.

It's now No. 9

Here are the top 10...

1. USA Today (Arlington, Va.) 2,136,068
2. Wall Street Journal (New York, N.Y.) 1,800,607
3. Times (New York, N.Y.) 1,113,000
4. Times (Los Angeles) 925,135
5. Post (Washington, DC) 746,724
6. Daily News (New York, N.Y.) 715,070
7. Tribune (Chicago) 679,327
8. Post (New York, N.Y.) 590,061
9. Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) 578,809
10. Chronicle (Houston) 552,052

[Red_Storm]

6. hmmmmm...

all 4 NY dailys and the Journal in the Top 10......only one California paper on the list......no Florida papers on the list ?

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. I've read the newspapers in Florida

It doesn't suprise me.

Pretty much every place outside of New York has lousy newspapers, especially their sports sections.

[Red_Storm]

8. In FLA .............

I was thinking maybe the Miami Herald or Florida Today had big circulations.......guess not....

[Love Bug]

9. Send your letters to their competitors

You can complain to Newsday, but do you trust them to factually report your compaint?

[THUNDER HANDS]

10. The ultimate irony

Is that the person in charge of the letters is my old journalism professor from Hofstra University.

In a lesser irony, I also won a major journalism award from newsday and have had five stories that I've done appear in that paper (not written by me, but lifted from stories that I had done previously).

I'm not a very happy camper right now. I never thought of Newsday as having a bias. I guess I was wrong.

[Red_Storm]

11. Speaking Of Which............

I can't figure out their editorial page........some days it seems they have progressive/left leaning op/ed's.....other days it appears conservative.........the other papers are obvious....the Post is total right wing garbage but their sports section is really good......the News and the Times are liberal.......What about Newsday, Magic Rat...what do you think?

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. Newsday is, editorially

An ever-so-slightly left of center paper.

They have more Bush-bashing editorials than they do editorials praising Bush.

But Newsday did support the invasion. They didn't use the best logic to do it, but what type of good logic was there to use?

Overall I think they do try to be fair and present both sides.

Remember, Long Island has a hell of a lot more registered Republicans than Democrats. Considering that, they have a hell of an amazing political bent. Around election time they definately support more Democrats than Republicans. As evidenced by the five congressional reps of Long Island - four of whom are Dems.