The following is a letter to The Villager which was published in the Volume 76, Number 16, September 6-12, 2006 issue.
To The Editor:
Re “5 years later, 9/11 skeptics feel they’re close to truth” (news article, Aug. 30):
I think the antidote to bad speech is good speech, not censorship. I’d rather the press report on the existence of 9/11 conspiracy “buffs,” “activists” and “leaders” than ignore them.
But I think The Villager, given its distribution and readership, had an obligation to be more sensitive in its reportage. Given the number of traumatized eyewitnesses — myself included — who relive 9/11 as a painful personal memory, your paper was too polite and one-sided in presenting the “opinions” of these kooks.
The wording of the poll you cite is seriously flawed, and if you’re going to cite the availability of “Loose Change” on the Internet, why not also, at least, cite the existence of the many Web sites devoted to rebuffing it?
In 1977, the A.C.L.U. was divided over their decision to support neo-Nazis’ right to march in Skokie, home to many Holocaust survivors. The Villager should have rethought its decision to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11 by giving a front-page lead and two full pages of text and pictures to an uncritical, unquestioning and, in my opinion, more respectful than they deserved presentation of the “arguments” of these “scientists,” “skeptics” and “theorists.”
All of my quotes are from your article and headlines. The Nazis never did march in Skokie, but The Villager did let these irresponsible people march through our neighborhood — unopposed.
Barry Drogin
Link back to My Personal September 11 Page.
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