As you may well know, a Town Hall was recently held at the Marietta Armory on Thursday March 27, 2025. Noticeably missing were our elected United States senators and our US representative. They were invited, but they declined to attend the meeting. Also noticeably missing were any journalists from the Marietta Times. And as far as I am aware, there was no mention in the Times of the town hall before or after the event.

According to the Wall Street Journal, humans like news, need it, want it, will usually (not always) reward those who bring it. We need it to survive, to make decisions, to understand the world. We need it to live. The purpose of journalism is to get the story and tell the story. (Jun 20, 2024.)

Now, more than ever, your readers need to stay informed about what is happening locally as well as in the world around us. For government to work in the best interest of the people, we need to have an informed electorate. We are all too aware of the turmoil that is happening in Washington, D.C. I feel that is important for the public to be informed, and I also believe that our representatives may be interested in a little feedback from their constituency.

So in conclusion, I would just like to express my disappointment with your organization. In this particular case, I believe it is fair to say that you have failed your subscribers. Hopefully, in the future, you will not make this mistake again. As in the case of the last event, we will try to notify you well in advance of any future events.

Sincerely,

John J. Smith