Dear Reader,
I don’t know why it took me so long to write this letter but I’ve been thinking about doing it for years, literally. Let me first say that I love the Reader and look forward to picking it up every Friday morning. The Reader actually plays a very big part in my life when I really get down to thinking about it. As a musician, I have used the Reader to find people to play with, to buy and sell instruments, and use it every week to figure out what I’m going to do as far as entertainment for the week. There is always something interesting or thought provoking in Section One that I read every week. My problem with the Reader is stuck in the middle of Section Four. Is your ownership so hard up for advertising revenue that they have to resort to accepting four or five pages of totally graphic phone sex solicitations? Believe me, I’m no far right Christian Coalition wacko, but when I’m embarrassed to let my 12- and 15-year-old children look through Section Four (with the comics included, no less) I have to think that you’ve really allowed it to go too far. I was able to deal with it in the past when the ads had their own section but were in the same format as the other classifieds, but now that they have taken the form of near headlines screaming about “phone fucks” and “hot, wet, pussies,” I feel it’s time for me to at least register a protest. I’m sure you appreciate the revenue it produces for the paper but I (and probably many others) find it offensive when we don’t want our children to see one section of the paper. Stop prostituting yourselves.
Louis Levinson
Deerfield