EDITOR: Anonymous letter writers gutless, bitter and twisted

It is fair to say there is never a dull moment in the newspaper game.
I get all sorts of letters, emails and phone calls from people offering great ideas and great deals and plenty offering the exact opposite.
And of course there are the occasional bitter and twisted people who have no trouble engaging in character assassination and venomous attacks.
I received one such letter this week from one such twisted character but as you would expect he/she didn't have the intestinal fortitude to put their name to their rantings and ravings.
The letter read: You are nothing but a damn hypocrite. Balanced reporting and news indeed, you must be joking. Many consider, with good reason that your paper is prejudiced and biased, often pandering to its major advertisers, Council and those who your paper decides are beyond reproach and not to be criticised. As the saying goes, you have been measured, you have been weighed and you have been found to be wanting."
Now I am quite happy to defend the paper's actions to anyone in terms of its coverage of any story.
It is awfully hard to discuss and defend gross generalisations that are based on one person's paranoia.
As always, I am intrigued to know who are the people we pander to.
Can't be Tauranga City Council as I've dealt with several complaints from them in the past 18 months.
Can't be Tauranga Hospital, Trustpower or the Port of Tauranga who have objected to our coverage in the past.
Could it have been that scathing story about the fairy at the bottom of the garden?
I'm a great believer in standing up to face the music and I've done that on several occasions during my tenure.
But I have no time for pathetic creatures who want to send threatening notes through the mail without the guts to explain themselves or stand behind their comments.
As far as I am concerned they would be better off spending more time with that fairy playing in the sandpit at the bottom of the garden.
In saying that, the vast majority of contact I have with readers is of a positive nature.
There are many great people out there who are all too willing to pass on a story idea, a suggestion to improve the paper or just a word of thanks.
Needless to say, they are most welcome.
I received an intriguing idea this week from one of our regular letters writers who suggested it would be a good idea to get together all the regular letter writers to the Bay of Plenty Times so they could all meet and swap ideas and opinions.
He said there were letter writers that he completely disagreed with but they were still entitled to their opinion and he would like to discuss that with them.
I know some letter writers are protective of their privacy and to some degree their safety.
While I agree that everyone is entitled to an opinion, some others don't believe that to be true and ring up letter writers to have a go at them. Understandably, that is off putting to most people.
If you are a letter writer and you see merit in this idea, drop me a line or email and if there is sufficient responses we'll organise a meeting of the minds.
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With the election hullabaloo behind us, I am now starting to look towards the upcoming summer holidays and what we can do to help you while away those balmy holiday days.
In previous years we have put together a special page during January with fun holiday reading and puzzles.
What did you think? Is that page worth persevering with or are there other additions we could make to improve the page?
What I would like to do this summer is run a regular column from you, the reader, on your favourite spots in the Bay.
If you have a favourite bushwalk, activity or hidden bay, why don't you write me 300-500 words on why this place is so special and we'll share it with readers.
I am sure there are many hidden gems in the Bay. Are you prepared to share yours with us?
Write to me at Private Bag 12002, Tauranga or email editor@bopp.co.nz