Last week, I posted on the rejection of a Jefferson County referendum to raise the tax levy limit for that county. See, Rejecting the Referendum: No Increase in Jefferson County Tax Levy Limit.
I was opposed to an increase in the tax levy limit. I was also critical of coverage that the Countryside Nursing Home in Jefferson County would be closed, as the referendum had failed. I should have made clear that this coverage was wrong twice over: it portrayed Jefferson County voters as cold-hearted, and it was inaccurate. Countryside was set for sale, in the event the referendum was rejected, not certain closure.
I should have made both points clear; I hit only the first.
I am indebted to a reader for his kind email, regarding my post, and pointing out that I had not clearly indicated sale, rather than closure, as the referendum’s immediate effect.
I found something interesting, but hardly scandalous, while reviewing my original post. The headline to which I linked underwent a title change. The original title, “Countryside Nursing Home will close after referendum fails” was changed to “Countryside Nursing Home will be sold after referendum fails.”
Here’s the original story to which I linked, available still (as of this post) at the LaCrosse Tribune:
Here’s the version at the State Journal, to which I linked, and now modified since I linked to it:
The State Journal indicates the change, in small type, at the bottom of the page, in red. One wouldn’t know, though, what the change represented.
It was a change to the headline and the subheading.
This is no great matter. It reminds me, though, that one can easily make changes on the web — for sound reasons — without readers always knowing what’s changed.