March 2008

ORGAN GRINDER

Many people have asked me why there was an insert in the last (printed edition of the)Organ, so I feel an explanation is necessary. The facts are these: during the weeks after the publication of the January issue of the Organ, I was made aware that both Southwold Town Council and Reydon Parish Council had received anonymous letters complaining about the spoof letter ‘A modest proposal’ in the January Organ. It was clear from the similarity of phrasing that the letters had probably come from the same source. It then became apparent that this was part of a more extensive campaign: as the February Organ went to press, it became clear that the same person (or persons) had also written anonymously to at least two advertisers in the Organ urging them to boycott the publication because ‘A modest proposal’ was offensive to them. The insert was a specific response to this, as they had not complained to us directly.

I will not go into detail about these complaints because they are anonymous and have not been directly addressed to the Organ, other than to say that the cause of offence was that the spoof letter was felt to overstep the acceptable bounds of humour about local government (or the town in one letter).

However, Reydon Parish Council has made a direct complaint to the Organ about this matter (the only one received). It has made it clear that it agrees with the anonymous letter it received. Specifically, it feels that, although the spoof letter was amusing to a point, it went too far and that, as this obviously caused offence, editorial policy on what goes into future issues should be reviewed. It also feels ‘A modest proposal’ gives a bad impression of the Organ’s attitude toward local government issues, and that our publication has not given the Parish Council full co-operation in helping it in its relations with the inhabitants of Reydon.

In our defence, personally attending and reporting Southwold Town Council’s meetings has been the Organ’s policy since it started. In reporting the proceedings of the Council, our approach is to humanise the processes of local government by reporting the tone of Council meetings rather than just reproducing the minutes. In no way is this intended to denigrate the work of our elected representatives. It is unfortunate that we do not currently have the resources to provide the same level of coverage for Reydon Parish Council; this is not a deliberate slight to Reydon, merely the result of time constraints on the editor.

Finally, I am not the author of ‘A modest proposal’: I merely published it. My only input was the title. I thought it was an amusing and light-hearted spoof that would add a bit of cheer at what can be a gloomy time of year. It is in the tradition of the Organ, which has carried many such spoofs over the years. It does not reflect a general attitude towards these issues. Southwold is a place I love and I would never try to besmirch its image; I wouldn’t be Editor otherwise.

I am sorry that the original complainant (or complainants) does not feel that they can approach the Organ directly. As I have said before, the Organ aims to reflect the local community. Therefore, I would be grateful if readers could write in with their thoughts about the editorial direction of the Organ. If you are not happy with it, we want to hear from you. Equally, we want to hear from you if you are happy with it. If we are making incorrect assumptions about the Organ’s readership, we need to know. Likewise, if we are not covering the issues that you think are important, let us know.

However, we cannot accept anonymous letters. We will be quite happy to protect your identity, should you want that, but we will need to know who you are. I have received quite a few letters now that I would dearly love to publish but cannot because they are anonymous and I do not know who the source is, so please let me know who you are. Secondly, I reserve the right to edit or not to publish letters that, in my opinion, are offensive, aggressive or include personal attacks. Again, I have recently received several letters that fall into this category. Please let’s keep it civilised in future!

Dominic Knight
Editor