Thursday, June 18, 2009

Whine, whine, whine

A couple of weeks ago, we published an article about Clarksville's centennial celebration. Clarksville is a little borough that straddles the Washington County-Greene County line. Not too much of note has happened there since the Yablonski murders 40 years ago.
It was a nice little story about Clarksville's history and the veterans memorial they would dedicate during the festivities. It was a cheery story about a town that rarely gets much attention, so we decided to run it on the front page. We weren't ready for the negative reaction we received from Clarksvillians.

My phone started ringing off the hook the next day, with people - including the mayor – complaining that we had published an incomplete list of all the centennial activities. We apologized, and we published a complete list of all the activities in the very next edition.
Next day, the calls started coming in again. This time, the complaint was that we hadn't placed the schedule on the front page of the paper, but rather on Page 2, and that no one would ever see it there.

This morning, we received an angry letter from Clarksville, blasting us for not sending a reporter and photographer to cover the unveiling of the memorial.

I think from now on we ought to let that sleeping dog lie.

6 comments:

Ellipses said...

"Clarksvillians"

Sounds like it should have been "Clarksvillains"

Now I have to go there and see if the town really is full of piss and vinegar.

Anonymous said...

Are you serious? You gotta be kidding me...

Anonymous said...

There is a reason the train stopped going to Clarksville. In fact, the last one probably departed some four decades ago. Any surprise?

Anonymous said...

Screw Clarksville. When the only thing of note that has happended in a town for 40 years is a homicide, that tells you all you need to know about the town.

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised that, following the lead on the Bonnie & Clyde memorialists, Clarksville didn't re-enact the Yablonski murders and charge admission.

Randi Lee Ross Marodi said...

This complaint shocked me. I was raised in Clarksville and I thought the Observer did an amazing job promoting the Centennial Celebration. The story on the front page was more than I expected and everyone I spoke with had positive things to say about it. We couldn't have asked for a better promotion and it was free!!!This is proof that you just can't please everybody. Sorry!