In an apparent editorial slip-up, “The Voice of the West Coast” may have accidentally expressed a firm position on a local issue in an editorial published last month.
The Westerly News, known region-wide for its craven refusal to take a stand on anything at all, has not yet issued a comment.
The editorial opinion would not be noticeable by the lay reader, say linguistic analysts. But specialists have been parsing the column and teasing out its various threads of meaning, and preliminary evaluation tends to indicate that the piece did indeed express a definite, if veiled, point of view.
“Computer analysis reveals that the article takes a cautious but firm stand against litter,” declared professor Flatbush Addle, of the linguistics department at UBC.
Others were not so sure. “We cannot say for certain this is a moral position, and not a simple artifact of language,” said language arts specialist Duckwaddle Twurp, of SFU’s department of philosophy. “Much more analysis will have to be done before the intention behind the words will be known.”
The news about the Westerly’s daring and unprecedented stand was broken by a national media watchdog organization. The announcement has shocked local residents, sending a thrill of serious journalism through the region. “The Westerly never expressed no dang opinion ’bout nothin’, good nor bad, for fear a pissin’ somebody off,” said long-time reader D.D. Hoyle, 73. “It’s a sign a the end times.”
Others see the dark hand of media ownership concentration behind the move. “I bet CanWest had something to do with this,” said summertime resident Shoozee Dragonfly Dreamcatcher, by cellphone from her summer residence in the Tofino Co-op dumpster.
Inside sources claim the column was actually a personal essay, written by a staff member for a class she was taking, that got into the paper by accident under deadline pressure. The editorial board is said to be composing an extended apology for the error, and to be tightening up the editorial system so that all potentially contentious issues are rendered indistinguishably bland.
