One of the advantages of having two local newspapers — though each paper has significant shortcomings, believe me — is that neither misses an opportunity to point out the competition’s troubles (example) or just plain take a shot at them, cheap or otherwise.

So it’s no surprise that today’s Equity contains two letters to the editor regarding the Journal’s editorial about John Paul II High School. (See previous entries: My response to Richard Ledbetter; More about that editorial.) One is from Ken Whicher, the principal of the high school, and another is from a graduate with a B.A. who objects to Ledbetter’s gross characterization of the school’s graduates as a bunch of underachieving rejects.

The Equity is a weekly, the Journal is a biweekly, so the Journal basically has to go another week before being able to respond. The two papers’ animosity towards another is well-known — it goes a bit beyond professional — so it’s no surprise if people write to both papers, or to just the opposition, to complain, especially if they have little faith that the one being complained about will print the letter. (I sent my letter to the Journal only; I’m still boycotting The Equity as a result of how I was treated when I worked there.)

Anyway, you can read the letters on The Equity’s web site here — until May 24, anyway, when page four of the next edition replaces it.