Opinions Are Part Of Newspaper’s Job

Not long ago a letter arrived at the the newspaper accusing us of a variety of infractions.

The front page, the writer complained, isn’t the whole truth.

Editorials, the writer pointed out, aren’t the gospel.

For these reasons the letter writer canceled his subscription.

Yet another citizen has gotten all bollixed up in thinking about the difference and the relationship between news and opinion.

With local elections only weeks away and presidential politics building momentum, now seems a good time to reflect again on the value of news and the need for vigorous statements of opinion.

First, the news.

News is information, facts, unexpected developments, human deeds and words that give meaning and context to our community.

News isn’t just stuff that makes you feel good, or a conversation with people you find agreeable.

The newspaper’s job is to gather and make sense of the news and then deliver it every morning - preferably not in the rose bush.

If you don’t like what you read in the news, go change the world, don’t cancel your newspaper.

Opinion is something different.

Opinion is what you, your neighbor and every opinionated so-and-so you know thinks about the news.

Opinion is multicultural, prejudiced, and dogmatic.

We don’t all have the same opinions and that’s what makes life interesting and your children a challenge.

A disturbing undercurrent in our community today is that too many people on the politically-correct left and the morally-superior right have begun to think their opinions are so perfect that all others should be banished.

This represents a cheapening of our society.

For 200 years we have been strong and confident enough to let our opinions clash in public knowing that in the end the truth, or at least greater knowledge, will survive.

The newspaper will continue to report the news as accurately and completely as we can.

We will continue to offer our clearly-labeled opinions and endorsements.

Along the way we will always be open to suggestions and critiques. We will interview candidates and study their backgrounds and views before deciding our endorsements.

If our reporting of the news or our expression of opinions strikes you as needing improvement or further comment, call, or write, or come for a visit. We will be here.

In fact, The Spokesman-Review will dedicate hundreds of pages in the next few months to other voices and other views.

This is the value of a newspaper in a free nation where reporting the news and commenting upon it remain the foundations of free speech and free society.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Chris Peck/For the editorial board