Increasing editorial hubris?

To the Editor:

I object to the increasingly frequent editorial hubris reflected in this paper's "Our Views" columns. While your Editorial Board has a duty to express its opinions about topical issues, its voice is compromised by ridicule and condescension. In the recent "For Those Philistines Among Us" you chastise a "nescient reader."

Does editorial policy at the Advertiser Democrat condone labeling one of its subscribers ignorant? What about the use of "philistine?" I would like to think I could take you to task about fact-checking without being called an anti-intellectual.

In schools today we are trying to teach children to disagree with another's viewpoint with respect, not denigration. Name-calling is not any more appropriate in a newspaper than it is on the playground. If you want the Advertiser Democrat to be a top-notch local newspaper, you would be wise to show more consideration to your readers.

Pam Burke

South Paris

Editor's note: Well put and spot on. We apologise and thank our readers for calling us to task and reminding us to take the higher road.