Editorials on local issues defended
As I was leaving church last week, a man came up to me and said he liked my columns and to keep up my good work. However, he cautioned me that I should keep a close eye on Paul Sunyak, the papers’ editorial page editor, and don’t let him criticize Joe Hardy. He added that Hardy didn’t deserve such criticism after everything he’s done for the area. Minutes later in the parking lot, a woman came over to my car. I rolled my window down and the woman proceeded to defend Sunyak. The woman said she knew Sunyak was drawing a lot of heat these days, but he was doing a great job with his editorials and columns. She told me to watch out for Sunyak and make sure he wasn’t fired.
So, what’s an editor to do? I hear such comments on a daily basis. Everyone has their own particular likes and dislikes about the paper.
The editorial page, in particular, with its various columnists, editorials, cartoons and even letters to the editor is a flash point for the newspaper. There’s something guaranteed to upset someone just about everyday. And there’s something that someone will agree with everyday.
It’s pretty much that way with editorial pages in newspapers all across the country. People either love them or hate them and some days it’s a combination of both.
So, why bother even putting out an editorial page, when you know it’s bound to stir up controversy.
Well, we believe that the free press as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution is the bedrock of a democracy. And at the heart of a free press is the right of people to express their opinions. So, we think that everyone from the richest person to the poorest person should have the right to be heard.
If someone wants to criticize President Bush, a township supervisor or myelf, they should be able to do so freely. It doesn’t mean that we agree with the letter writer. It only means that we think the person has the right to be heard.
We try to run every letter to the editor that comes in as long as it has a phone number for verification. There are certain limits such as libel. We can be sued just like the letter writer if a libel suit is filed. So, we have to be careful someone isn’t making false accusations that can’t stand up in a court of law. There’s more leeway with public officials than the general public but there are still limits to even those comments.
For instance, someone can call a public official incompetent or a knucklehead but they can’t call him a thief or a drug user unless he’s been arrested for those charges.
As far as editorials, we feel it’s our duty to give people our analysis of local issues. We’re not as concerned, though, with getting people to agree with us as we are getting people to think.
If an editorial gives you pause or gets you to rethink your position on a particular issue, than we’ve done our job.
Many times people think we agree or disagree with people because of their personalities. Nothing could be further from the truth. We’re concerned solely with the issues. We’re much more concerned with how a politician stands on issues than whether he’s likeable or not.
The biggest problem is that sometimes people get so upset by something on the editorial page that they cancel their paper. While that’s their right, we think the real losers are our readers who lose out by not getting that person’s point of view. By not sharing their opinions, that person is not just hurting us, they’re hurting the entire community.
Many people say that local editorials should be bland and inoffensive. They contend that newspapers should be more of a cheerleader, standing on the sidelines backing local leaders on the issues of the day.
We think the exact opposite. We think it’s important that editorials take a strong stance on the issues of the day. We think newspapers have an obligation to let readers know what they think and where they stand on the issues. We think that’s the best way to promote a full and open discussion of the issues in the hopes that such debate leads to better understanding and possibly a better solution to problems facing us.
We also hope that people realize we only want the best for our community. We have no other agenda. We probably have more invested in the economic and moral well being of the community than any business. We can’t pick up and move to a different city or state. We have to make a go of it here, or we’ll be out business.
We want to see the community prosper because that’s the only way we can prosper.
Mark O’Keefe is the executive editor of the Herald-Standard. O’Keefe can be reached by e-mail at mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com or by phone at 724-439-7569.