Do You Know Better?

This comment was a reply to the "The Smoking Gun." Rather than have it lost in the maze of comments, we are placing it here as well so readers gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding the troubles at the Local and the Chestnut Hill Community Association. The message is strong; a position the Local has lacked for several months now.

I am no longer surprised to hear egregious lies dropped like leaflets on the heads of a disinterested public, but this cavalcade of character assaults is both disgusting in the extreme and an embarrassment to the poster.

Nap seems to think that by slamming a wide spectrum of individuals, any one criticism will appear more credible. Didn't work. Nap appears to be looking out mainly for Nap (and how Nap hopes to get his/her ducks in a row regarding future career moves at the paper or elsewhere) in everything Nap posts. In this regard, Nap is probably cleverer than I was in announcing to the board exactly why I left. Casual slander is a key survival tactic at 8434 Germantown Ave. and Nap has apparently drunk deep from that well.

Where do I begin? Not writing stories? I wrote one almost every week. I could pick dozens of examples, but, for simplicity's sake, let's just look at the last month I was at the Local. Ask the people at the Wissahickon Skating Club or Morris Arboretum if I took press releases and put my byline on them. Ask Stewart Graham about the article I wrote on Chestnut Hill recycling. Ask the Friends of Pastorius Park. The Jenks Home and School Association. Ask anyone I came into contact with professionally -- except, of course, Nap.

Not assigning stories? Of course I did. Mike and I also hashed out story ideas together. Weekly, and at length.

Newsgroups? Didn't belong to any. Internet surfing? Not much (how would Nap know, anyway? I had a private office). I had my favorite newspaper sites and WFMU (freeform radio that way it ought to be) streaming live on Monday evenings, when Mike and I were at the office sometimes until 9 or 10 p.m. Nap must have me confused with folks in the office who spent way too much of their time dialing up show tunes and scrolling through pictures from their last vacation.

Frankly, Mike and I worked our asses off. We were dedicated and downright fussy about the slant of stories and look of the front page. That little paper kept me up nights on Monday and Tuesday. It was a high-tension race to the finish line each week, what with our small staff and commitment to being NW Philly's newspaper of record. Some weeks were great; others fell short, sometimes gut-wrenchingly so. I was far from perfect, but I did a mighty good job with what I was given.

How dare you, Nap. I'm sure you know better.

Posted by James Sturdivant to Chestnut Hill Notebook