Editor’s Note
Back in the old days — that’s less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers — editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an “editor’s note.” Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor’s note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today’s blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor’s Note.

Archive for June 22nd, 2008

Tap water in a glass? How novel…

8 comments June 22nd, 2008

I’m pretty sure Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey didn’t like the Page One photo on Saturday’s newspaper. Next to a headline about City Council considering environmentally friendly proposals for city government, there was a picture of Morrissey drinking a bottle of water. In one sense the photo is unfair: Morrissey has long had a green-friendly-advocacy reputation. The juxtapostion of his bottled water and the headline could lead some to believe he doesn’t care.

But, the fact it, bottled water is ubiquitous. I’ll drink the bottled stuff when it’s handy even though I’m not a bottled water buyer, except in airports or when a tap isn’t readily available. Never could reconcile paying for a plastic bottle of something I could get from the faucet for free. At home, it’s Rockford tap water filtered through a Brita and poured into a reusable plastic bottle. I’ve done that for years, not because I was so “green,” but mostly because I was so cheap.

When there’s a bottle of water around, I’ll grab it, which is mostly likely what the mayor did at council meeting. Still, a pitcher of Rockford tap water and some paper cups would do as well, and might be just the thing for a reprise of that photo-op moment.

But, if we’re going to give up our love of bottled water, we’re going to have to get used to a glass with water and ice, and maybe a paper napkin to catch the drips. That’s what we “serve” at editorial board meetings and I’ve got to admit, I am amused by the almost shocked reactions of some guests when we hand them the real deal — nice glass, ice and all. I’m pretty sure some folks think we might be trying to poison them with water in an actual glass….