How should I take this exchange with the Akron Beacon Journal VOP (LTTE)

[zbdent]

Me:

Having been the recipient of several harassing phone calls due to my letter criticizing George W. Bush, I realized that a little warning would be helpful.

When you are going to publish a VOP letter, it would be quite helpful if you would notify the person who wrote the letter. As per your policy, you have the phone number of the person, for "verification" purposes. If the person communicated via e-mail, an e-mail response would be helpful.

This would allow the writer (usually someone critical of the Bush administration or anything Republican) to be able to turn off his or her phone for a few days, to avoid harassment. I'm sure that Alex Arshinkoff encourages these tactics, albeit "unofficially", wink, wink. As in the matter of his illegal sign, he has shown that he is not above Rovian tactics.

From now on, I am going to request my name be withheld, while still providing it for verification purposes. This is the second time that I have been harassed due to an opinion. This, as I would hope, is not a reflection on the Beacon Journal, which seems to hold itself to fairly high standards. Unfortunately, you still print that shrill harpy, Michelle Malkin.

Akron Beacon Journal:

Sorry to hear of your harassment, but we simply do not have the manpower
to
notify letter writers that their letter will be published. And our policy
is
not to publish anonymous letters.

--***** ****, VOP editor


Me:
----- Original Message -----
From: <************>
To: ""vop"" <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 11:38 AM
Subject: Re: Not a VOP - A suggestion, to aid future VOP writers


I guess then that the local terrorists have won.

------- -------


Akron Beacon Journal:

Only if you stop writing.

"vop" <[e-mail]>

[ironman202]

1. file a police report...

usually, a call trapwill catch whomever it was harassing you

[zbdent]

4. The "trace" is in process

will be notifying the authorities once I verify that the trace is successful.

[ellenfl]

2. use your answering machine to monitor your calls and get

caller id if possible. then you can turn the harassers in to the authrities.

as to the paper's response, i did not take it as a threat, if that's what you meant.

ellen fl

[zbdent]

3. I didn't take it as a threat

but it is annoying that they will not protect the names of letter writers WHO ARE NOT MAKING RIDICULOUS LTTEs THAT THEY PUBLISH.

I did think that they were somewhat "encouraging" with the "Only if you stop writing" response. (I was a bit peeved when I wrote "Then the local terrorists win." - I believe that the PeeDee, or Plain Dealer, allows "Name withheld by request" letters when the LTTE is not abusive or inflammatory).

By the way, I already have the trace in place (as of 4am today). The abuser, if the trace is successful, will be at the forefront of whatever action the local constabularies decide to do when I do file the complaint.

And I have been keeping a log, plus, the digital answering machine I have been using for a few years now records the date and time of messages which come through.