On Monday 12SEP2005 I sent this to the Editor of my local paper; The Record. It is main local daily paper published for Waterloo Region. In my opinion, it is not a balanced paper. It leans quite a bit to the left and, like most print media in Canada, is in the Liberals' back pocket.

The fact that I have to choose between supporting a paper like this or not knowing what goes on in my community bothers me.

I indeed was called last week by a saleslady. I did not mention to her that we used to subscribe but cancelled it for the reasons stated and because we would only get 3 or 4 of the six editions actually delivered to us each week. The content was most important to me; the reliable delivery most important to my wife.

I expect no response.

Good day,

I saw the front page on Sunday and unless I was mistaken it is yet another reason to not buy your paper. I used to subscribe but I haven’t for a long while.

I think the gist of the article was that we have a shameful number of people in the Region who are living below the poverty line. And you quoted a number in the order of 47,000.

Well, considering the fact that the definition of poverty is something like 'the least fortunate 10% of the population' and the fact that the population of Waterloo Region is approaching 500,000; don't you think this is a non-story?

Now, if I got the wrong end of the stick and indeed the story was substantive, for a change, then I apologize. But I simply could not bring myself to buy your left-leaning, socialist rag. Not to worry though; most papers in Canada are as balanced as yours. I was assured by the saleslady who called last week to ask me to subscribe that 'a lot has changed at The Record in the last six months'. But I guess they haven't.
I assured her that The Record would not likely change to get me as a reader as they would lose more readers than I am worth. The public has been spoon-fed unbalanced tripe for so long by the print media that truth and logic would now be as palatable to them as sour milk.

Don't bother printing this in your column for my benefit, I won't be reading it.

Regards,