Montana publisher apologizes for “anti local” column in biz publication

Stephanie Pressly, the publisher of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in Montana, has apologized to its readers for publishing a column written by a freelancer that argued in favor of buying from national chains instead of local stores, saying it offended some local business owners and should have been spiked by editors.

Pressly writes, “It’s not much of a defense that this was the writer’s opinion and doesn’t reflect the views of the paper. The column did not run on the opinion page but rather in our monthly business publication, a publication with a mission to enhance the local business climate.

“Well, I’m writing on the opinion page and can tell you that there were a number of things wrong with that column, not the least of which is that we printed it: It only gave one lopsided example, quoted only one professorial source, and jumped to conclusions that were clearly off the mark.

“The fact is that local retailers often have lower prices than their big-box competitors. And local businesses actually know what they’re doing when it comes to pricing, inventory, marketing and especially service. To imply that buying local necessarily means ‘overpaying’ is ludicrous.”

Read more here.