I have to commend the editors and staff for printing Mr. Charles Markarian’s letter from your March 19–25 “Letters to the Editor”, and I didn’t even read it. I have always considered the West Milford Messenger somewhat of a left leaning periodical due to, what I consider to be, your obvious liberal democrat inclinations.
I decided to read the April 2-8 West Milford Messenger because of the cover headline story of “New Jersey expands access to the ballot box”. Unfortunately, I cannot commend you based on the range of that article. I accidentally happened upon the “Letter to the Editor” from Mr. Josh Nachowitz apparently of Hewitt. The title of the letter hit home, “An abandonment of the public trust inherent in publishing a community newspaper”, because the United States Constitution is near and dear to my heart.
Mr. Nachowitz rales against the West Milford Messenger for printing a letter to the editor from Mr. Markarian. Mr. Nachowitz’s apparent astonishment rises from the fact that Mr. Markarian potentially misrepresented a CDC statement and opposition to the Covid 19 vaccine. It would be easy to misrepresent Covid 19 statements since they seem to change weekly.
As to Mr. Nachowitz’s assault on the West Milford Messenger the answer is clear. The first amendment to the constitution contains, “or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;”. Mr. Nachowitz believes you should have suppressed (emphasis added) Mr. Markarian’s letter because he did not agree with the opinions. I would bet that the West Milford Messenger did not agree with the content of Mr. Markarian’s letter, but you still printed it. This does not restore my faith in the American press. It does stand as a bright point for the first amendment to the constitution. I commend you for printing both letters. Perhaps you should hire someone like Mr. Nachowitz to review what American citizens are permitted to read and think.
Thank You.
Jeff Weld
West Milford