Last month, the Shuttle published a letter from a Co-op member lamenting that the Petapalooza festivities in Chestnut Hill this summer featured local pet rescue groups and barnyard animals and their guardians, but no representatives from farm animal sanctuaries.

This month, the Shuttle is publishing a letter from the Manatawna-Saul 4-H Club taking exception to that letter-writer’s characterization of what they do and what 4-H is all about.

This is how letters work in the newspaper . . . except . . . the first letter was written by a Weavers Way staffer, identified as such (all our staffers are members), and the 4-H folks feel this implied she was speaking for the Co-op. 

Now, newspapers — even this little “association newsletter,” which is the segment of the publishing business the Shuttle is in — often make distinctions that are kind of lost on readers. So even though it’s perfectly clear to ME that a letter is just someone’s opinion, I can see how others might mistake it for something more official. 

Here’s the thing, though: I feel strongly that NOT identifying the original letter-writer as a staffer — especially when she was writing about a Weavers Way event — might make it seem as if we’re trying to hide something. 

Sometimes readers (writers, too) don’t understand why editors do the things they do. Often it’s a judgment call. We make them all the time — whether to trim letters, fix mistakes (or let people have their erroneous say), run them at all. I know, it’s really on me to make sure readers understand what we’re doing, not your job to figure it out. Hey, the Shuttle does run a disclaimer that says content is the opinion of the writer, not necessarily that of the Co-op or its board. It’s right there — in the teeny-tiny fine print.

So, sorry for the misunderstanding. There. That should clear things up.