InkBlots

Clarion-Ledger Perspective Editor Sid Salter has been named by Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza as one of the nation’s best political writers. Salter has quite a following for his column, which is also syndicated to dozens of state newspapers.

Personal addendum: Columnists Al Cross of the Louisville Courier-Journal and Pat Crowley of the Kentucky Enquirer deservedly made the list from that state. We’d also like to add the name of Ronnie Ellis, a talented reporter and now statewide columnist for CNHI with whom we had the pleasure of working and kicking up some dust a few years back. With the likes of former Govs. Paul Patton and Ernie Fletcher, there is never any derth of material on which for Ellis can opine.

Writes Editor and Publisher’s Shawn Moynihan:

“When researching the ‘50 Years Ago’ section for each issue, I often come across some amazing stories from E&P’s rich history. This time, I discovered one written especially for us by David Halberstam, then a little-known reporter for The Nashville Tennessean, titled, ‘One Picture Arouses Nation to Give Succor to Poor Family.’ Appearing in our Jan. 4, 1958 issue, it’s the story behind a newspaper report — and a gripping image captured by staff photographer Eldred Reaney — that drew wide attention to the plight of the Ledbetter family, and the outpouring of help they received after the story ran in December 1957.“

Robert Lee Hotchkiss, a Mississippi native and computer science student in San Diego, pens a letter to the editor in the LA Times, disagreeing with the paper’s editorial on shopping malls as free speech zones.