University of Virginia Library

Troublesome

I have always enjoyed
reading people's attempts in
your Letters to the Editor
columns to correct some of the
"facts" and impressions
published by Cavalier Daily
staff writers. But I never felt
that I, too, would be in a
position to participate in this
troublesome activity.

However, having read your
articles on the Resident Staff
Program, I now join the
not-too-exclusive society of
persons who have been
misrepresented in the Cavalier
Daily.

Perhaps it is the nature of
articles in which there is
extensive use of quotes to
present those quotes in a
misleading manner. Perhaps,
too, it is the nature of college
journalism to use quotes in
contexts entirely different
from those in which the
statements were originally
uttered. Regardless of the
nature of this type of
journalism, I feel Mr.
Bardenwerper and Ms. Alford
should be aware of the fact
that their use of quotes was
sloppy and quite possibly
deceptive. In addition to
outright misquotes, Mr.
Bardenwerper carelessly
presented hearsay information
in the article on housing.

I do not know if the others
who were quoted feel as
though their statements were
improperly used; my letter can
only express my own
complaints. It would not
surprise me, however, to
discover that the Cavalier
Daily's jockeying of quoted
material offended others in
addition to myself.