News Item from the Danbury News-Times

There are times the newspaper sends a chilling message, by getting it wrong. An example was an obituary in the Danbury News-Times printed in 2002. Apparently the unfortunate gentleman the death notice was about was a Marine veteran of the Korean War, and, therefore, he had earned a special military send off, but what the paper reported was more than one would anticipate. The article dutifully presented the normally expected information about this gentleman (when he was born, who is family was, where he had worked and where he attended church). It then continued, "Funeral services will be held (deleted) at 9 a.m, from the (deleted) funeral home...buriel will be at 10 a.m...military horrors will follow in (deleted) cemetary." The current editor, who recently spoke to our Rotary Club, respectfully declined responsibility for the snafu, and had a good excuse. The paper has repeatedly changed ownership since 2002, and he has only been the editor for a short time. Also, death notices are no longer handled by the editorial staff; they are now handled by "classified ads."