"The Dictator of PlanPutnam!"
" Censorship!"
" What gives you the right...!?"
" I thought you believed in Freedom of Speech!"

(I've got a million of 'em saved up over the years!)

Folks,

"How come you don't post my stuff?"

I get this question a lot, especially when there's some hot issue or other out there ... usually in Putnam Valley. I'm as used to it as any editor would be and even if the accusations are vile, as sometimes they are, I gotta tell ya, it's like water off a duck's back.

Here's the answer anyway:

Editing is a balance.

Here are a few reasons some posts don't make it through:
(not in any particular order)

1) The "facts", as presented, are just plain wrong or you've attributed something to someone they didn't say.

You don't think I check once in a while? Of course I do, and if there's something in there that just doesn't sound right I'll ask you to verify. Most times, probably 9 out of 10, I never hear back from you.

2) The post is nothing but a personal attack against someone or a government institution, usually unjustified, at least in its intensity.

That's my job and I do it well. Thanks.

3) The post rambles.

You'll send me 5000 words where you could have stated your point in 300. It's enough that my readers get a dozen emails a day from this list so I prefer to keep articles shorter. I will almost always send the post back to its source asking for it to be edited down and, yup, you guessed it, 9 out of 10 times you never re-post or you shave 20 lines off and think I won't notice. Besides, it's often best to let me do the rambling.

4) Your post does not help move the discussion or the issue along nor does it add anything *new*.

This is the most common reason. Person A says this. Person B says that. Person C says Person A is a doodyhead. Person B calls Person C an idiot and bereft of common sense. I usually opt to stop the dialog after persons A and B. Sometimes, however, the sheer joy of seeing the word "doodyhead" in print is just too precious to pass on.

Doodyhead

Come on, when was the last time you saw that? Huh?

5) The post is not germane.

As much as I personally despise the Bush Administration, their personal friends, the bin laden family and all the illegalities and moral loopholes they jump through I really do try to minimize posts of that nature to this list. I will post articles about national environmental, land use and social justice issues (they are intrinsically related) which may take the Administration to task - but that is as it should be - especially if they're wrong and your lives are affected in the negative.

Reasons why you shouldn't really bitch if you don't get the free air time:

1) Planputnam is free, you didn't pay to sign on.

2) It comes automatically to your inbox and brings you a summary of articles and editorials culled from area newspapers that bear primarily on the issues of land use, sprawl and alternative energies. Where else are you getting that now?

3) The archive I've amassed over the years is a wonder to do research with.

4) I provide you a service that I pay for out of my own pocket and through the generous contributions of those who have helped out. (THANKS SO MUCH!)

5) You can always start your own list as Brewster, Patterson, Carmel and Putnam Valley all have done to deal with their more specific issues and yes, where folks pontificate and bitch to their heart's content, often ad nauseam.

6) You know how much information PlanPutnam has brought you over the years and how it has been a platform for many people, even those with unpopular positions, who wouldn't have had the opportunity to be heard any other way.

7) How many stories have your read here before they appear in the "mainstream" media - if they ever appear there at all?

8) 50,000 of you can't be wrong. (That's how many have visited the website)

9) I'm eligible, witty and charming and handsome as hell.

10) Besides, it's my list and as the editor, I do just that. Edit.

Jeff