Back in he early 90s when I was in J-school, I learned all about the long and proud history of The Hartford Courant. In 1997, when we first moved to this fair state, I was excited to be able to read this paper on a daily basis. What a thrill!

Fast forward to today. I am a working journalist, News Editor at a large not-for-profit member-driven national association. I have seen the Courant slide downhill fast. Your story concerning this once-venerable institution’s actions (and I say this without knowing both sides, just what you have presented here) leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

From working at local papers in Connecticut to where I am today, I have *always* stressed — to myself, to my co-workers, to my management, to my readers — the line that separates editorial and advertising. In my not-so-humble opinion, these are two fields that never should meet — my integrity, as well as my publication’s, is at stake. On local papers, I have refused to write “advertorials,” as seeing them mesh these two together. Have I been chastened for it? Yes. Was I fired for not doing them? No (I was fired for being a Republican, but that’s a different story).

Good luck to you in your suit. I will be watching this closely (and purchasing my new mattress set somewhere other than Sleepy’s).

You were there to help me when the credit card companies weren’t playing nice with deployed soldiers. Your voice was the only thing that made them behave. The Courant is making a horrible mistake and I hope that the Readers realize this and punish accordingly. Who will the Advertisers market to if there are no readers??

Sheri