NO COMMENT LETTER TO EDITOR

NO COMMENT IS THE BEST COMMENT

          Last week the Warrensburg City Council removed the City Manager from office, gave him six months severance pay, and informed the public that there would be no information provided concerning the details pf his removal.  The Daily Star Journal took the editorial position that “No Comment” was the correct approach.  The following is my letter to the editor which essentially supported the newspaper’s position.

          Your editorial on the appropriate use of the phrase “No comment” was right on.  When I was serving as the Director of Public Relations for UCM many years ago, my nickname was “No Comment Foster.”

          I recall when we had some major campus upheavals and the area reporters were working around the clock trying to get the details.   Around 10 p.m. one evening, a KC Star reporter called me at home and proceeded to tell me that he had a right to all that information.  He made me mad, I lost my temper, and said something like “you just want me to give you all the gory details.”

     The next day the KC Star carried a story with the headline:  PR  DIRECTOR AT CENTRAL MISSOURI REFUSES TO PROVIDE THE GORY DETAILS.

      At 8 o’clock the following morning, President Lovinger had me in his office where he gently pounded his desk and quietly suggested that “YOU WILL NEVER EVER USE THE PHRASE “GORY DETAILS’ AGAIN!”

      From then on, it was NO COMMENT.

      I am like most people.  I want to know the “inside story” or the truth of why so-an-so got the boot, etc.   However,  I strongly agree that “No Comment” is the best path.

       I use it around the house a lot, too.