I want to clear up some understandable confusion that hovered around the Journal-World for much of Thursday.

Some of you may have seen posts or heard reports that the Journal-World signed a letter asking Gov. Laura Kelly to end $300-a-week unemployment benefits that currently are being paid to jobless Kansans. The existence of the letter was recently reported by The Associated Press, which said that about 180 businesses lent their names to the letter.

First, let me say that the Journal-World has not taken that position related to unemployment benefits. As the editor and publisher of this paper, I was never asked to sign the letter, and would not have signed the letter, if asked. I find it inappropriate.

I’m pleased to report that the organizers of this letter are in the process of sending an addendum to Gov. Kelly that makes it clear that the Journal-World was not a valid signatory to the letter. A spokeswoman for the coalition of business interests that spearheaded the letter confirmed to me that several other organizations also will be removed from the list of supporting businesses.

What doesn’t please me is that the Journal-World’s name ever ended up on this list. I find it very upsetting and discouraging. But I do have a better understanding of how it happened than I did early Wednesday evening, when I first learned of the issue.

After I began to publicly explain Thursday morning that I had not authorized the Journal-World to be part of that letter, a Journal-World employee acknowledged taking action that landed the Journal-World as a signatory on this letter. While the action was unintentional, it still is disappointing. 

I’m going to respect the privacy of the employee involved in this unfortunate situation, but it is important that I share some basic facts. 1.The employee is not a journalist and has no connection to the newsroom. That means the employee is not a reporter, copy editor, editor, page designer, photographer, web producer or any other such newsroom employee. That’s important to know because we have various journalists covering the unemployment issue, and as such, those journalists should not be taking positions on the issue, as the letter clearly did. 2. The employee is not a member of management in the company, and has absolutely no authority to speak for the company or take positions on behalf of the company. The employee understands this. The employee believed the signature would only list individuals and would not affiliate them with a company. In reality, the opposite was true. Individual names were not listed. Only company names were listed.

In short, the employee was sent what appears to be a mass email from the Kansas State Council of SHRM, which is an affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management. It asks the recipient of the email to sign a letter to the governor opposing the unemployment benefits. One portion of the email does “extend the opportunity for your company to join KSSHRM in our our efforts by adding your company name to the quickly-growing number of supporters.” 

Another part of the letter — the final call to action — is less specific about the fact that individuals actually would have their company’s name listed rather than their individual name. That final call to action says: “If your company is struggling with the lack of available workers, I invite you to join your voice with ours — together we will make a difference.” Note, it says “your voice,” not your company’s voice.

It is a troubling email to have come from an organization devoted to the good practice of human resources. I can’t imagine many human resource managers would have appreciated this email being sent to their employees. It takes the irresponsible action of sending an email asking people to speak on behalf of a company without having any knowledge of whether the person they are sending it to is authorized to speak on behalf of the company. That’s a poor practice, in my opinion. 

However, there is fault on the part of the Journal-World too. I don’t want to hide from that. The communications the employee received from KSSHRM should have raised red flags, should have caused the employee to approach a supervisor, and should have resulted in the employee simply depositing the email in the trash. I’m disappointed that it didn’t, and I apologize to the fine journalists and employees of this organization for the good name of the Journal-World being included on a letter of this nature. 

I’m also sorry for the consternation it has produced for our readers. Know that we will take appropriate action that communicates the seriousness of this error and seeks to avoid similar ones in the future. 

But most of all, please know this: The Journal-World’s listing on that letter bears no weight. In no way, shape or form has the Journal-World taken a position that the unemployment benefits should be ended. Anyone who says otherwise, at this point, cares little about the truth.