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Posted By: Joann

I guess I'll wade into this one before I go bury myself in studying for the rest of the evening.

Scott - I really do agree with your misgivings on advertising and understand why you have them. They are legitimate concerns and I think many here are mindful of the negative effect they could potentially have on the community.

But in this case, I think the concerns (at least on my end) are more theoretical or potential only. I myself have not seen any indication that the outcomes that worried me are coming true - not at all.

I believe Leon has the right to post his opinions along with everyone else. If his opinion happens to be favorable to an advertiser, so be it. I think that's probably coincidental. He also has some negative opinions about several of the organizations that advertise here.

The issue of self-censoring works both ways. If we would insist that Leon not allow advertiser pressure to get him to withhold negative comments (reflecting his opinion) about a given company, we should similarly allow him to post his positive opinions without assuming that they are related to any ad revenue.

Personally, I don't think I've seen any change to the board tenor, nor to Leon's positions specifically, since the advertising started. And believe me, I have been very sensitive to it and all but looking for it because of the same concerns noted above. I have the concerns, but so far have not seen any sign at all that they are turning out to be true or valid. So far so good, as far as I can tell.

And I know that the comments you reference came in a personal email between you and Leon, so I really don't know what all was exchanged. But if Leon said he initially took up for Mile High, or Brian, or whatever during the FBH episode, that doesn't mean he took up for the advertiser. He is allowed to state an opinion regarding any company's practices or statements, and if he expresses a positive opinion it doesn't necessarily follow that it was purely because of the advertiser status of that company. So in that sense, maybe he took up for the company or for Brian, but not for the "advertiser". But as I said - these were private emails so I really don't know.

Good to see you back posting again here. In this case I think we have different opinions, but in general I'm glad that you are giving input.

Joann