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Bloggers:Keep to yourself until you know the facts
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008
My husband says I should just forget it, that it's old news and nobody cares. Well, I care and it still bothers me, so I've decided to write this letter.
This is in regard to an incident that happened on Feb. 28, involving my son and was reported in The Daily Journal on Feb. 29. The article in The Journal was incomplete and inaccurate, which led to many mean, vicious comments on The Journal's Web site which hurt my son.
The article I'm referring to involved Adam Gerhardson, age 18, being charged with taking migratory waterfowl out of season and it went on to say that there was a report of kids down by the levee "wringing the necks of geese." That's where the article stopped. What the article should have continued to say was that: No. 1. Most importantly, no goose was harmed; and No. 2. The person making the allegations against Adam actually only saw Adam's back and made an assumption as to what he was doing.
What actually happened was that a goose was picked up and tossed to Adam by another boy; he held it for two seconds, then let it go. It swam away unharmed.
Why didn't The Daily Journal mention that part?
We found out today that the charges against Adam have been dismissed. No charges, no fines, nothing on Adam's record.
That is because nothing happened.
The only lasting effect to this whole episode is the harm to Adam's reputation.
Because of The Journal's article, people wrote in on the website saying Adam has aggression issues, mental health issues, and he was even compared to Jeffrey Dahmer. Come on, Fergus Falls, whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?
What would be really nice right now is to hear apologies from "notthere", "daidres", "Lori" (who called my son a b******), and "airbear."
Since I know that won't happen, it would just be nice if people kept their comments to themselves until they know all the facts.
Tami Gerhardson - Fergus Falls
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by paultommerdahl (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The writer is correct, the comments (not really bloggers, but that's beside the point) have been taken to a rather extreme level behind the curtain of being "anonymous".
I wonder if people would be willing to say those things in person? It's time for some maturity...
Let's see some maturity and use our real names. Would it really hurt that much? (Does a Chipmunk have a real name anyway?...Alvin maybe?)
Posted by daidres (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 2:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tami, I will comment on your argument, and I do appologize for whatever I had wrote in response to the Daily Journal's article about your son. Sometimes when people read things in the paper, like I myself did, are not given full truth behind the incidents, and by that, we comment on things only because what we read strikes a match, especially when it pertains to something or someone we care about, me that would be animals. However, I am human, and I also care about our youth, and I hope that whatever was said about your son will be dismissed. I am glad that justice was served for your son, and I am also happy to hear that the Goose wasn't even hurt. See, when people like you write in to the paper, you shed light on some of the issues at hand ! You needed to write in and speak your mind, because now I know what happened, and sometimes, the paper can be alot like the game Telephone, in the end not even an 1/8 of the truth is written!
Posted by chipmunk (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 4:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes Paul, chipmunk does have a real name. And as I said on March 22nd at 10:20 am, in response to the article “United Way Seeks Your Input” I will be more than happy to post with my real name when the Journal requires the same of every other poster. By the way I did not comment on the original goose article.
Posted by Vampire (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just because someone makes a comment with a name, we have no way of knowing if that name is the name of a real person or not. The FFDJ makes no attempt to determine if the name is real or not when we apply for a password. So paultommerdahl could be chipmunk, or Alvin or even me.
Posted by Paul (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 4:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hold on there vampire, paultommerdahl could be me to, we both have the same name and my name is real.
Posted by BobWilliams (Bob Williams) on April 15, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Trust me, I'm me.
Posted by Gassy (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What????? The journal reporting innacurately??? That is the real news. How about you get some real journalists and stop making a mockery of real world, state, county, or city issues. My God, get educated professional journalists and you might sell some papers.
Posted by paultommerdahl (anonymous) on April 15, 2008 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Chipmunk, I know you didn't comment on the original article (as I didn't either), but your humorous posts just came to mind when I was writing that...
Vampire, I just figured people could be mature enough to use their real name. That was the point.
Bob always tells it how it is - and the Journal is missing out on having him around.
Gassy - 100% agree.
Posted by sametoyou (anonymous) on April 16, 2008 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would love to be able to use my own name. Problem is, when I have in the past, I have been vandalized, had crank phone calls(I don't have caller ID) and I know I've been turned down for jobs and rental housing, just because I voiced my opinion! This is Fergus Falls after all.
Posted by Disvet (anonymous) on May 7, 2008 at 12:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So what happened to the "Innocent youth" that caught the Goose and picked it up against it's will and decided it would be fun to throw it at another person? I don't personally care how angry alot of Parents get.. The youth today is becoming out of control and no one does anything about it except play the blame game. I moved from the Twin Cities to Fergus Falls to get away from all of the Rif-Raf and come into all new Rif-Raf. I have seen Teens being mean to the Elderly, Mentally Challenged, That is no excuse for anyone. My Vehicle has been broken into more times than when I lived in the Cities. It happens regularly whether its locked or not. I have seen Teens speeding excessivly, cutting off others, throwing garbage out of their windows, swerving to TRY and hit animals crossing the roads. Youth today IS a big problem and Parents need to do something about it. They can't be babied forever otherwise they will just become something no one wants for them. So, start with the parental discipline and stop with the damn Medications, pity and blaming of others.
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