In The Washington Post! (sort of)

Hi Graham! Congratulations on your completion of Journalism school and managing a by-line that has reached Post readers as well as all publications in Maryland's First District! You have good reason to be proud! Now for the difficult part of this comment. I was offended by the tone of the article, especially when taking on Klonsky's comment (and I have addressed this with her) about HARRIS supporters; I think she made an irresponsible statement/assertion. I am seeking clarification about who specifically is extremist as I have researched the Club for Growth and found nothing that indicates such behavior. I am offended because we are one of the (for 2008) non-Marylanders (my husband happens to be an anesthesiologist) that supported Andy Harris! Now we are residents of MD and continue to support him, but by no means are we extremist. Miss Klonsky is receiving a rather lengthy e-mail about me/my family and clearly indicates no trace of said extremism! Yet, this conservative mom, RN of 18 yrs, CPT in the USAR is offended. As I said to Miss Klonsky, her comment was an irresponsible assertion attempting to marginalize (oh how tired of this j-game I have become) people who differ from her ideologies and points of view. Since you own the article and its contents, I would like to see you, as a young journalist, raise the standard of your elder peers and mentors and at least provide supporting information if you are going to allow assertions to be presented; even if they are someone's quote. Look at your job through a prism of a desire to inform, not a desire to persuade or slant. Do the American people a favor and let them come to their own conclusions. As it is, newspapers are at a 3rd grade reading level and many people simply have lost interest in this form of media. Thank goodness for the internet as it allows for us to expand on the words of any one person's article and make our own choices. Sadly, most people like my 88 yr old grandmother do not use the net and she is one who believes every word written! God love her!
I will continue to follow your career as I applaud your courage to do what you love in an industry that no longer holds a place of high esteem that it formerly enjoyed in the eyes of the American public. This status of course is not at your making; but you have a HUGE opportunity to blaze some trails that have long been abandoned! God Bless, Kimberly

Kimberly,

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the article.

Your criticism is duly noted, but I believe Ms. Klonsky was referring only to the Club for Growth and didn’t mean to imply that all Harris supporters are extremists.

My intention with the article was simply to provide a snapshot of where the campaign contributions were coming from on both sides.

I gave the Kratovil campaign a chance to respond to a charge being made by the Republicans. I understand if you feel that the response was over-the-top, but my job is to report what’s being said and let the readers decide, not to sanitize each campaign’s rhetoric for the sake of civility.

I share your concerns about the state of the news media and the political discourse, but I don’t think that my article was slanted against any one side.

After reading the article, Harris supporters will still be Harris supporters, Kratovil supporters will still be Kratovil supporters and those who are undecided will have a little more information about both sides by which to make their decision.

Those like you who see the comment from the Kratovil campaign as an attempt to marginalize its opposition will likely be put off by the statement.

If you still think that my latest article painted Harris supporters in a bad light, I’d invite you to read a few of the other stories I’ve done in the last few months about the 1st District:

http://somd.com/news/headlines/2010/11180.shtml

http://www.corridorinc.com/corridor-news-mainmenu-119/4396-harris-continues-fundraising-roll

http://www.newsline.umd.edu/blog/index.php/2010/03/17/tea-party-takes-health-care-message-to-kratovil/

Again, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Your encouraging words are much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Graham Moomaw

Thank you, Graham for your lengthy and very professional response. I also appreciated the links to your other articles and see that you are worthy of notables given that you truly do bring integrity back to journalism! I thought your statement about "not sanitizing for the sake of civility" was spot on! I appreciated that and you made me realize that you were merely letting her voice her opinion and that was that. You allowed for "balance" to take place naturally by not forcing her to clean up that statement or provide additional information. A discerning reader will frown upon her quote since she made a comment that did not place her in "good terms" in the eyes of readers, regardless of their political stances! Thank you for redirecting my initial response to her comments- she made them, they are set in stone and she has to live w/ the consequences since she was not clear about who the extremists were. In fact, I think she did Mr. Kratovil a dis-service in this case.

The world of journalism is lucky to have you and we the readers appreciate this! Keep up the good work and blaze the trails of journalistic integrity!! You have proven yourself to be an independent thinker focusing on the substance rather than shifting a message to align w/ a perceived idea of what others may want.

2010 is proving to be an exciting election year and I am blown away by the number of people, of all walks of life, who are waking up, becoming informed and getting involved. I have a saying I used for my staff RNs in the operating room- comfort creates complacency which leads to undesired outcomes. This is true for all of us Americans who were blindly driving on with our lives. The mere threat of the loss of freedoms (and believe me, moving from AZ to MD demonstrated a loss of personal freedoms) woke us up and thumped us in the heads!

Have a great evening, Graham!