Local Newspaper Reader Makes Intelligent, Constructive Point
FairCityNews.com | Feb 04, 2011 | Comments 0
Springfield, MO – It was just a normal Tuesday for Steven Jones, a business owner and reader of newspapers from Ozark, Mo. But then a newspaper story about school budgets caught his eye, and he decided to post a comment online. This is when Jones’ life changed forever.
“This is the sort of scenario we plan for, but never truly expect will come to pass,” says Sharon Englewater, newspaper spokesperson. “Steven Jones, known as Jones417 on local message boards, spoke with such kindness and humility–all the while using correct grammar–that we at first thought his comment must have been spam.” Englewater notes a conspicuous absence of frequently commented words such as “communist socialist” or “liberal conspiracy” or “anything Glenn Beck has ever said” in Jones’ comment.
The newspaper’s content management system was so unaccustomed to such a post, in fact, that the entire website was shut down for two hours. ”Eventually we determined that Jones417 is a real person and his comment–though it contained no spelling errors and not one threat to his neighbors–was genuine,” Englewater reports. “We even tried our squiggliest random text spam filter, the kind that looks like it was written by a drunk toddler wearing a blindfold. And he passed.”
English teachers and librarians all over the region have started a Steven Jones fan club to celebrate his syntax and tact. Others are less impressed. “Yeah I don’t see what the big deal is about it,” begins a post penned by Jo Stephens, a frequent commenter on the site and self-proclaimed local whistleblower. “It’s obvious to anybody whose paying attention that this guy is some elite spy, sent down here by Obama to teach us how to talk and think and take away our guns.”
When contacted for comment, Jones replied, “I don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about. Had I known that simply stating my opinion would earn me this much attention, I might have kept my big mouth shut. Other levelheaded, reasonable commenters out there should take note.” Judging by the comment threads in the days since the incident, it’s clear they already have.
Filed Under: Politics