Very recently, on Nov. 18, I encountered an important example of real journalism by Dusty Christensen. I have been in the Valley for 14 years, and the article entitled “Redacted” is the most important piece I recall having read. Coverage of burning barns, traffic accidents and town meetings is appropriate, but rarely significant. The investigative reporting the Gazette recently published is significant for and important to not only the residents of Happy Valley, but to all Massachusetts taxpayers, and to anyone who cares about untrammeled science.
Will this piece discomfit some residents? Of course, that is the result of nearly all investigative journalism. It is a significant testament to why we must preserve the free press.
Nice work, Dusty, and the staff of the Gazette.
Douglas Raybeck
Amherst
Raybeck is a professor of anthropology emeritus, Hamilton College.