Demeans subject

Date: 1/9/2013

As a resident of East Longmeadow, I am disappointed with your tabloid-like, gossipy coverage of Enrico "Jack" Villamaino and Courtney Llewellyn's legal troubles. Early on, you wisely stated that you would limit the publication's coverage of these cases to newsworthy moments and events.

Since then you have published photos from Ms. Llewellyn's Facebook page and written an article about Mr. Villamaino's role as a justice of the peace, apparently based on a tweet from Ms. Llewellyn's Twitter feed. How is any of this newsworthy? It cheapens your newspaper and demeans the subject at hand.

Rebecca Kennedy

East Longmeadow

Editor's Note: During the investigation, we were careful to base our stories on facts released by the district attorney as opposed to unnamed sources as other media outlets did.

We would be remiss if we didn't continue to follow what Villamaino and Llewellyn are doing while out on bail since the court actions involving both parties, which is standard journalistic practice.

Through Facebook and Twitter posts they have called attention to themselves. In the age of social media, what someone posts to a Facebook page, blog or Twitter account could certainly add to a reader's understanding of the individuals involved.

We did not invade anyone's privacy as what is posted in social media outlets is in the public domain.