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LETTER: Column was based on innuendo

Your editorial column by Rob Murphy, sales manager was laughable in its Trump-like attempt to create a conspiracy out of nothing.

Dear Editor:

Re: “Controlling the flow of information,” Sept. 29, Page 4.

Your editorial column by Rob Murphy, sales manager was laughable in its Trump-like attempt to create a conspiracy out of nothing.

His main complaint seems to be that the press release from the municipality on a planned water shutdown arrived too late to meet the Summerland Review’s press deadline — this for a water shutdown that is six months away.

Sure, it’s news, but hardly the breaking news it would be if the taps were to be turned off the next day.

He goes on to criticize council for its communication strategy.

I could buy into that if there was any consistent news coverage of council or anything else in the Review.

In a previous column, Mr. Murphy commented on a land use decision without providing a single fact about the issue. Innuendo is not reporting, and is the lazy way to approach journalism. The Summerland Review has become a pale shadow of what it once was, and columns like Mr. Murphy’s do no service to the community.

As to the water crisis, let’s see some real reporting. Dig into the facts, find out why this problem arose in the first place.

Failing that, how about rallying the community to make sure our neighbours, especially the elderly or infirm are taken care of?

Rather than make it a negative, turn it into a community building exercise. Emergency preparedness groups tell us repeatedly to be prepared for three days without water, electricity and other necessities in the event of earthquakes, wild fires or the like.

My Mum, in her eighties, has shrugged it off. Fill the bathtub with water (and the washing machine too) for flushing, have five gallons or more of potable water for drinking and washing, and heat what water you need on the stove. But then she grew up in Britain during the war, so knows how to make do.

Stewart Murray

Summerland