Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.11.
Jill has been speculating all bloody week about who Yvonne Wright might be. Since Ms. Wright stuffed her letter in the Post’s mailbox and left, without the courtesy of including a number nor address, and since no one we know knows her, I’ve been referring to her as “Ms. Wright—if that is her real name.” It probably is.
Jill just wants to know how on earth we managed to tick her off so much. I don’t speculate on things like that. It’s a waste of time. I expect hate mail in the course of this job—there is always going to be someone you rub the wrong way, no matter how much you try to do everything right. If she had a legitimate concern, and presented it as constructive criticism, I would address the problem and see if I could solve it. But she had neither, so that’s that.
“Don’t worry,” I told Jill. “At least one person will write a rebuttal.” Shows how much I know. We published all the written ones. This doesn’t include the hundreds of comments and encouragement we received from a whole slew of people. They’re many of the reasons I love this job. You are wonderful people to work for.
Now I just have to get used to the idea of fan mail. Jill, and perhaps you, don’t realize this: None of the other papers I’ve worked for ever got fan mail. Not ever. Sure, someone would thank us for a story or photo or commentary, but never for the whole paper. It just isn’t done. People generally don’t write unless they have something to complain about. I am not at all used to the idea. But I do appreciate it.
Of course, now this means I’m under pressure to keep you liking the Post. Oh, the responsibility! …Nah, that’s just part of my job. We aim to please.
And if you don’t like the Post, go ahead and send in your criticism. But please keep it constructive. After all, as you may have noticed, I can’t accurately predict how the readers may react to it.
—Kent Leslie, managing editor
Update, 9/14/2009: The reaction to Ms. Wright’s letter was considerably greater than the reaction to the dead deer in issue 1.9. The calls came in once the issue was out. “I can’t believe how mean she was to you,” was the usual sentiment, though some of the callers actually wanted to know where she lived so they could “have a talk with her.” Since Ms. Wright never left an address, I didn’t have one to give them—not that I would ever have given it.
I expected one letter defending the Post, if that. More likely some friend of Jill, seeing her miserable as a result of the angry letter, would come to her rescue and write a comforting letter. But then the email came in—with names, addresses, and phone numbers attached, indicating that they wanted their emails printed. And then the snail mail came in. By the Friday deadline, there were 14 of them. They weren’t just commenting that Ms. Wright’s statements were baseless, but commenting that the Post was awesome.
Really, that doesn’t happen.
When someone rips apart a newspaper, the public’s usual response is apathy. Someone doesn’t like the paper? Well, they’re entitled to their opinion, or they’re a kook and not worth my time. Those are the usual reactions. Not fan mail. We got fan mail.
My first reaction was surprise, followed by… pessimism. “Wait a minute,” I thought. “What’re we doing wrong? I was immediately reminded of a comment Jesus made—“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” [Lk 24.26] Sounds a little twisted, I know, but at the time I was just terrible at receiving complements. I’m a lot better now.
But you have to understand—fan mail doesn’t happen. Hate mail happens. Nut mail happens. Reporters are encouraged from the very beginning of our careers to develop a thick skin, ’cause not only can’t you please all the people, but the few that you do please will rarely tell you so, and the few who hate you will regularly tell you so. We’re taught to see hate mail as a positive thing—if you were trying to push people’s buttons, congratulations, you’ve succeeded. Too bad they want you dead; but at least someone is awake out there. That’s the mindset I was trained to develop. It was gonna take some time before I could get used to this whole idea of being liked.
Jill was elated. It was as if the entire community had stepped forward and vindicated her newspaper. Since, after all, she can extrapolate one person into “everybody,” 14 letters went a long way into making her think that Countryside Post was the most beloved institution in Nevada County. But Jill can’t ever entirely let things go. She never did entirely get over Yvonne Wright’s letter, and always reacted with revulsion whenever it came up. At least she knew that “everyone” thought Ms. Wright was a nut too.