The Editor's Desk

Because of position as a newspaper editor and editorial writer, my e-mail is frequently flooded by statements from folks connected to issues in Sacramento begging for attention and hoping I’ll write about their concerns.

Generally, as I try to write about things that Barstow readers would actually be interested in and have a noticeable impact on their lives, the e-mails are ignored. (Though I do confess to amusement that I get e-mail updates from a state religious conservative group and state gay civil rights group that tend to be about the exact same issues, but with the opposite tone, depending on who is winning that particular fight)

In reality though, they probably have no idea who or what the Desert Dispatch is — these are mass e-mails sent to media outlets across the state.

Few are more persistent than the folks at legalizeferrets.org, a group devoted to, as you might guess, legalizing ownership of ferrets as pets in California. They are currently banned, apparently because of claims that they present a hazard to California’s agriculture. The group disputes these claims.

They e-mail me updates nearly every single week about their efforts (which are not going well, it seems). I have no intention of writing about them in the paper. Although I support their efforts, it’s not an issue that has enough impact for me to justify committing our limited newspaper space to.

But hey, thanks to the infinite space of the Internet, I can at least give them a little plug.

Hmmm. This entry began with the intent of being one of those “Look at what crazy stuff I get in my e-mail” deals but ended with me promoting them. I’m sure there’s probably a lesson in there somewhere about public relations.