E-R silences ‘Tell It’

The Chico Enterprise-Record has pulled the plug on its long-running reader-comment column “Tell it to the E-R.”

Editor David Little announced the column’s pending death in his Sunday column on Sept. 15. The final shout-out was published the next day. Little said he’d never been comfortable with the anonymous nature of the comments in the 14 years he’s been running the show. The column itself, he said, had a 28-year run.

Perhaps the final straw was an Aug. 22 call-in titled “Put city officials’ heads on display,” in which the caller suggests decapitating the city manager, his assistant and all of the council members and placing their heads in the new roundabout at Second and Flume streets. Two days later, the paper chastised itself in the “Hits and misses” Saturday editorial for publishing the comment.

Replacing the column is a new section called “Start Your Day Here.”