Gloucester Times Editor Ray Lamont responds to the Northeast Seafood Coalition’s response to the Times’ August 4 story “Fishing sector fee of 10k draws fire”
Read the Northeast Seafood Coalition response
As editor of the Gloucester Daily Times, I’m writing to make certain that Saving Seafood readers are aware that we absolutely stand by our story regarding the Northeast Seafood Coalition’s collecting of a $10,000 fee — or however the NSC wants to phrase it.
In responding to the story, Vito Giacalone insists there are several "inaccuracies" in the story, but in reading his letter closely — which we also plan to essentially run in the Times — he doesn’t really cite any inaccuracies at all. He seems to be suggesting that his concern is with how the story with "lead" readers; I submit that we have no idea of how a reader may read or interpret a story — that that’s up to each and every reader. But the facts in the story — carefully researched as always by multipe award-wining reporter Richard Gaines — are as stated.
We appreciate Vito’s effort to provide more information about this effort — notably that the $10,000 paid by the fishermen will go to their individual sectors, not to the NSC itself. Yet he also notes that the NSC is in fact managing the sectors, and that teh NSC will be recouping fees for its services in setting up the sectors and handling other aspects of this conversion. But to suggest that our story noting that the NSC was in fact collecting the $10,000 from fishermen to essentially become part of a sector is innacurate is, well, inaccurate in its own right.
We at the Times have a great working relatonship with Vito Giacalone, Jackie Odell and the Northeast Seafood Coalition, we’ve consistently endorsed all of their efforts and continue to do so. Even in this instance, I’d like to think that Vito doesn’t intend to really suggest that our coverage of this and of other issues is in "inaccurate" — because it clearly is not. I can understand that this is an emotional time for everyone in the commercial fishing industry, and that he is legitimately concerned with how readers on all sides of these issues may "read" or interpret these stories. But I also have confidence that readers will digest the facts as presented, and that they can indeed interpret those facts as they choose.
Our job as a newspaper and media company is to present the facts accurately, and to leave the interpretetion to our readers — and that’s what I believe we have done in this case, as with all of our news coverage.
Ray Lamont
Editor, Gloucester Daily Times