August 26, 2024

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

For more than 25 years I was a writer of newspaper editorials for the former Rockland Journal-News, a daily community sheet that began in 1889. It was a gift to do so but also a heavy responsibility because I followed such heavyweights as Grant Jobson, Norm Baker and Walter Williams. Rarely was the day when I did not feel their breath as I raced deadline. There were standards to be met – offering viewpoints but realizing they were just part of the opinion mix. No big heads allowed.

Some major newspapers have now given up the editorial perch or reduced their editorials to occasional visits. The rationale from some is that “We don’t want to tell people how to think.” Baloney. In most instances, the move has been made to reduce salary costs and pages that don’t carry money-making advertisements as newspapers lose ads and readers. There has also been a false egalitarian effort to make the patient the doctor. Do away with “experts,” and self-diagnose.

Editorials can be, should be, a strong voice, and many have saved lives, exposed wrongdoing and redirected government policy. Yet some papers have political bent, and their edits push that. Understand though that they are just part of the opinion mix.

Newspaper editorials usually come together in consensus, with informed staff weighing in, with opinion arrived at after discussion. It can be like a group of surgical specialists, educated and trained with time in the job, helping decide the best course in a delicate operation. The goal is to assist the patient via expertise. But you can always seek a second opinion.

Edits, while expressing the paper’s official opinion, are no more weighty than letters from the public, including those that are irreverent or rough-hewn; no more important than informed commentary from columnists; and no stronger than political cartoons.

Together, given birth each day, these words and images go way beyond the quickie slap-dash of today’s social media that too often pushes false information, ignorance and prejudice.

Daily newspaper opinion from well-considered to outrageous, to incendiary even, stirs up democracy’s blood. Just as long as there is freedom of speech allowing all thought.

In the end, the reader, the citizen, makes up his or her own mind, free to accept opinion from any source – a newspaper with or without political bent; from a letter writer with head in the sand perhaps or one deeply enlightened; from cartoonists way to left of center or so far right to have served in the Reich.

Democracy thrives in debate; the more opinion the better. Newspapers must continue to provide space and content, including editorials. It is a great failure to walk away from that responsibility.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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