January 2023 by Barbara Fulton
There was a time I would enjoy reading The Neshoba Democrat. We have lived in four states and overseas seeing many local papers grace our mailbox year after year. I have always enjoyed reading local news and articles. Unfortunately, since we have moved back to Philadelphia I have found the quality of The Democrat to be lacking.It use to be a paper that had local community news, and they would put in public service announcements and articles that were of public interest. Recently, I sent a PSA to be put in the paper. I have done this for over eight years in the state of Tennessee when we lived there, and had great success and support from the local newspaper, The Buffalo Review.My PSA was for Operation Christmas Child and the events that would be happening in Neshoba County during the third week in November. Another one of my workers also sent a PSA to the paper, but none of the PSA's were printed. I was told by the receptionist when I called that it was "Up to the discretion of the Editor." Sad that even a PSA is being censored! We are a volunteer group that provides good will and send Christmas boxes around the world all in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many Churches and civic group participate in this project and need to know the dates the center will be open to drop their boxes off. I cannot understand how announcing the upcoming week of collection and general information would not be a PSA. Truly the paper no longer is a community paper!
