A former editor does some editing

Some of you may have seen my letter to George Solomon in today's WAPO sports section. It seems to be that he/they took a chunk of my email about coverage of the NHL, specifically the All-Star game, and I think gave it an un-intended tone.

Here's what they used:

Hockey fans know their sport is down at the moment and that it has many problems. That said, it's very irksome and tiring to constantly see the only national attention given to it is negative.

Here is the entire email:

Thanks for apparently being one of the few Post columnists who knew that
the NHL All-Star Game was on TV and where to find it on your cable. That's
more than I can say for some of your superstar columnists, who seem to
think that the only thing to say about the sport these days is to take fun
of its admittedly-poor television package.

Hockey fans know their sport is down at the moment and that it has many
problems. That said, it's very irksome and tiring to constantly see the
only attention given to it on national outlets like ESPN is negative.

As someone who has taught journalism in the past, I'm sure you know all
about "gatekeeper theory." While its not the media's job to cheerleader
for what they cover, I think they do have to realize just how much
influence they have over their audience. Seeing and hearing respected
national columnists do nothing but belittle a product cannot help
something that needs all the positives it can get these days.

This was spurred after mainly after a week of "What channel is the NHL on?" one-liners from radio and TV people, notably Wilbon on PTI. Yes, it was my ox being gored. But it's funny to hear Wilbon make the same remarks when he chastises anyone and everyone who make generalizations about the NBA (which is now his main area of coverage for ESPN).