However, my recent letter “In response to Mr. Stanley Torres,” the Variety choose to edit some portions of it and I feel that was unnecessary; although my letter was pretty much left intact. The Saipan Tribune however, seems to have “mouthpieces” and not bona fide journalists, as they choose to do some pretty heavy handed editing of my letter, by removing all mentions of their Lord and Master, Wille Tan. If my grammar was incorrect (which wasn’t) or my spelling was wrong (again, it was correct), then, by all means fix it. But, based on past letters, I fail to see when you have done that to other letters.
If you were hired to come to the CNMI or were hired locally and be a journalist for the Trib or Variety, why not stick to your guns and write according to your journalistic oath. I know how it works in Saipan (not ON, as was edited in my letter) and you are trying to protect your jobs, but still, you have a job to do for the PUBLIC and that job is to write the truth and let the truth be known. If you have journalistic morals you hammer your editor and boss to leave the Letters to the Editor or stories you file as they are written and file stories that inform the public and not pass on the personal views of the owner/manager/editor.
I received such an overwhelming positive response to my letter last week, telling me “thanks for telling it how it really is.” Now if you folks at the Trib. and Variety can start writing the same way and receiving Kudo’s for YOUR efforts, you would sell more papers and you’d feel better about your jobs, instead of continually printing the status quo or what you have to been told to write.
I would like to say the most pleasant surprises I had when I moved to Saipan was the great library and the fact that there were not one, but TWO local newspapers on island and another on Guam. I have been a fan of the writers for the Trib and the Variety for years and I usually read all three Island papers daily.
In closing, it would be nice to see more hard-hitting stories and the truth, like what you hear around the table at gatherings of friends and family in the CNMI. There is always that 500 lb Gorilla in the room that everyone talks about, but never really acknowledges or reads about in the paper.
Re: more IN-DEPTH Reporting about: lenient/suspended sentences for felons and REPEAT felons, the disparity of sentencing for locals versus foreigners, Uncle Ben’s freewheeling use of CNMI funds/hirings, CUC, CHC, Tinian’s games with vendors, Froilan and Stanley’s insanity, etc, etc…. We would love to see more hard-hitting stories about these and other local issues THAT EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT, but never see in the papers…
PAUL BEEBE
Spokane, Washington
A concerned
former Saipan resident
Variety replies:
Only one portion of the letter was slightly edited while keeping the meaning intact.
The original was:
“Do you have some other country in mind for the CNMI to align itself with? Is it one that has no problem giving bribes to the likes of you and your buddies?”
The published version:
“Do you have some other country in mind for the CNMI to align itself with? Is it one that has no problem giving bribes?”
