Crossing the line?

This week in Issue 2041, there was a story titled X-RATED which claimed to report on US Senator Ted Kennedy being mistakenly cited by police for being topless in public while sailing. The story was in jest, and was found in the ChronWatch.com, which call itself "a media watchdog and conservative news site, with a focus on the San Francisco Chronicle."

We get a lot of stuff sent to us, we thought the bit was entertaining and harmless, so we included it in the newsletter in an effort to provide some variety. A lot of readers thought it was a hoot, but we learned that others did not. It certainly is never our desire to either offend anyone, nor to use Scuttlebutt as a means to promote a political agenda (whatever that is).

We know that not everything in Scuttlebutt is of interest to all our readers, but our goal each day is that there is a nugget or two for each reader. This story caused a few to unsubscribe, and one in particular has been on a bit of a tear. Here are some of his recent comments:

"The gratuitous and tasteless attack on Senator Kennedy was enough for me to request immediate deletion from your mailing list. I will find a way to contact every one of your sponsors."

And in another letter:

"I will not support the on-line sailing magazine known as “scuttlebutt’ since it has decided to become the house organ for the right wing yahoos who will politicize our sport with the venom that we so assiduously try to avoid. I am not a crusader and have never met or voted for Sen Kennedy. I am an avid sailor who is sick of the relentless intrusion by these mindless ideologues into areas of my life that I consider immune from their bile. "

It all seems a bit harsh to us, as it was not our intent to do any of the things this person is claiming. If we did do them, it was unintentional, and certainly not part of any master strategy (as if we had one).

For each and every person that was offended, we apologize. - Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt