Mrs. Oleson's cousin, newspaper publisher Sterling Murdock, starts a newspaper in Walnut Grove that turns out to be little more than a gossip rag. When Nellie loses a spelling bee to a gifted student named Erich Schiller, Mrs. Oleson sarcastically "praises" the young lad by revealing that his German immigrant parents are illiterate; actually, the elder Schillers were fluent in German, but had not yet learned to read or write in English. Charles – after a lie is published about him in a later issue of the paper – eventually scolds Mrs. Oleson and Murdock in church, then the town for supporting the newspaper that built itself on yellow journalism.
Tropes associated with this episode include:
- Always Someone Better: Erich Schiller, to Nellie in the spelling bee. Mrs. Oleson refuses to understand or accept this and it leads to her write-up about the spelling bee and falsely claims that his parents are completely illiterate.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Nellie didn't study for the spelling bee but still made it to the finals before being beat by Erich Schiller.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Sterling Murdoch has tiny glasses which and is an Immoral Journalist.
- Human-Interest Story: How Mrs. Oleson might classify her story about Erich Schiller winning the spelling bee despite having "illiterate" parents. On the surface, a stranger might interpret it as a gifted student overcoming all odds and hardships, and who was motivated to be better than his parents. In reality, it is Mrs. Oleson's way of venting her frustration that her daughter, Nellie – who did not study for the spelling bee but still made it to the finals – was defeated by someone who was better prepared and had studied. In the end, Mrs. Oleson's lies are cleared up: Mr. and Mrs. Schiller indeed cannot read English, but can read German fluently.
- Ironic Echo: When Caroline calls out Mrs. Oleson on spreading rumours and harming the targets of her column, the latter callously argues that they can always publish a retraction if, emphatizing "if" the content of the column is untrue. After Laura and Albert turn the tables on her and publish an article targetting her, she demands that Caroline do something, and Caroline throws her words back at her by suggesting that she publish a retraction if, emphatizing "if" the content against her is untrue.
- Malicious Slander: Mrs. Oleson's column in spades. Her articles contain rumours and gossip which suggest the worst of their subjects, such as suggesting that a newlywed couple's premature baby was conceived before the wedding, that the Garveys are going bankrupt, costing them a loan when the banker read the column, and later, in retaliation to Albert and Laura messing with an article against her, she insinuates that Albert was actually sired by Charles in an extramarital affair.
- Never Learned to Read: Averted with the Schillers; although they cannot read English, they are fluent in German. By episode's end, Mrs. Olesen is made to understand this.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Sterling Murdock, who runs a newspaper in Walnut Grove that prints malicious gossip, is a thinly veiled Rupert Murdoch. Michael Landon commissioned this episode in response to tabloids and celebrity gossip-type entertainment programs publishing stories about his personal life, including several (alleged) extra-marital affairs, and Charles' public berating of Murdock and Mrs. Oleson is his response to the real-life tabloid stories. (The fact that Katherine MacGregor – and Jonathan Hillerman, who played the cold-hearted Murdock – were sympathetic to Landon due to his name always being drug through the mud made their own performances all the more convincing.)
- No Sympathy: Mrs. Oleson gets none from either her husband or Caroline after she reads stories in the newspaper about her wearing a toupee or offering a 100-percent-off sale at the Mercantile note . Although he does put a swift end to the "sale", Nels reminds her that he had talked with her before about her responsibility to print the truth and not rumors. Caroline, while forbidding Laura and Albert from working for the paper anymore, merely suggests that Harriet write a front-page retraction. Both tell Mrs. Oleson, in not so many words, that she got what she deserved … but she just crows on that she had her name ruined.
- Not So Above It All: Charles scolding the congregation for supporting Murdoch's newspaper, saying that people who do so, despite knowing the newspaper's reputation for publishing gossip, are no better than Murdoch and Mrs. Olesen. Aside from the Schillers (and possibly Nels and Jonathan), everyone – even Nellie Olesen – is properly shamed and the newspaper begins to fail in short order.
- Only One Name: Albert had started using the last name Ingalls shortly after he became a permanent part of the Ingalls family. But for a short time after Mrs. Oleson's publication of the malicious, scandalous and libelous story, Albert is shamed into defeat, and tearfully concedes that he would rather be referred to by Only One Name — his first name, Albert — and that it'd be alright if he were just "Albert No Name." Charles gives Albert a pep talk ... it would not be alright to go by "Albert No Name," because that is letting Mrs. Oleson win, and in successfully convincing him to avert this trope, he promises Albert that she will get her comeuppance in short order.
- Redemption Rejection: After Charles exposes how Murdoch's newspaper has been harming the town during church service, everyone seems properly shamed but Murdoch just brushes it off and leaves the church, ignoring the sermon.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Michael Landon adapts his own being fodder for very unflattering tabloid headlines into a story where a German immigrant family is sullied by Mrs. Oleson's malicious writing, and later a story where Charles is falsely accused of siring Albert with another woman. Both are naturally to sell papers and advertising, although in Mrs. Oleson's case, her hateful column about Erich's triumph in the spelling bee also has the purpose of scorning this outstanding student and tearing him down because he beat Nellie in the final round. The later story was written in response to Laura and Albert getting back at Mrs. Oleson and switching the printing plates by printing false information about her.
- Spelling Bee: Erich Schiller and Nellie Oleson compete in one, one that plays a huge role in the events of this episode.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: What Albert and Laura give Mrs. Oleson when they switch the printing plates. The results are stories that make Mrs. Oleson and Nellie look really bad, and the 100-percent-off discount sale at the Mercantile.
- Technology Marches On: Invoked. In a way, this episode was a look at small-town newspapering in the 1870s, when (often) editorialized human interest stories and "chicken dinner" features — sometimes without veracity — were common, as opposed to more substantial reporting and fact-checking seen in more recent decades. Many newspapers of the time were short-lived (as was this episode's The Pen and the Plow) for various reasons, not always because the public rejected the newspaper as inherently inaccurate.
- Tragic Dropout: Briefly before being averted. Erich is so stunned and upset by the write-up in the newspaper — something he thought he would be able to put in a scrapbook, but instead made his parents look like completely uneducated idiots — that he announces he's never coming back to school. Charles gets wind of this and gives Erich a pep talk, which reassures him his parents (who have struggled) want what's best for him and to do better in his life.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Laura (in the post-episode epilogue) explains that Sterling Murdock was forced out of town shortly after Charles' speech in church, and less than a month thereafter The Pen and the Plow published for the final time. Laura wrapped things up by stating her Pa hoped that someday someone would begin a new newspaper and that it would be published by someone who was interested in publishing the truth.
- Who's Laughing Now?: When Mrs. Oleson marches over to the Ingalls to demand to see Laura and Albert and yell at them (for switching the printing plates), Caroline tells her they aren't home. In the loft, Laura and Albert are doing all they can to stifle their laughter.
