Thank you for your outstanding editorial. During these
challenging times when the press and freedom of speech is under attack, your
standards and journalistic ethics deserves praise. You are the touchstone of
our community providing a platform for all voices no matter how big or small.
Thank you.
Diana
This Sun City,
Arizona resident responded to the following “From the Editor” co-written by
Matt Roy, Sun City West reporter, and Rusty Bradshaw, Sun Cities editor.
Opinion pages express voice
of community – uncensored
Letters to the editor published in recent weeks called out the Independent for publishing some writers’ opinions.
The critical letter writers were upset at one letter in
particular, which detailed the writer’s views on the origins and underlying
causes of homosexuality. Those views, as evidenced by numerous letters written
in response, offend and shock some.
Respondents pulled no punches in taking that writer to
task over the past week, questioning his knowledge, judgment and intent as they
asserted their opposing viewpoints with varying degrees of outrage.
The letters we receive reflect the diversity of our
readers and their positions on contentious issues facing our community. Despite
how vehemently readers’ opinions may differ, their letters to the editor have
something in common — we printed them all.
Two critical letters printed took us to task for doing
just that.
One writer stated, “I’m disappointed that the
Independent ran [his] rant on homosexuality,” and goes on to ask, “Please, in
the future, do not give platform to such comments,” suggesting we use our
stated policy about limited space as an excuse to omit letters that might
offend some readers. The other writer responded similarly, “…your publication
(which claims to have very limited space) chose to print something so full of
animosity, not to mention pure nonsensical reasoning. It might be compared to
news stories of racism from before the time of the Civil Rights movement. How
embarrassing for you.”
Letters to the editor are not news. These letters are
clearly marked as such — as letters from our readers — and appear on page 4,
which is labeled “Opinions” in bright blue letters nearly one inch tall. This
is an important distinction, hence the big label.
In our news writing, we scrupulously and systematically
endeavor to leave our opinions and feelings out of it. What we think and feel
about the topics addressed on our news pages has no bearing on the facts and no
place in our paper. In fact, we go to great lengths to give both sides of any
issue their fair say. That is our job and it is something we take seriously.
On the opinion pages, you will also find nothing from
us to imply which side of any issue we support — because we do not support
either side, rather, we want our readers to express themselves and facilitate
discussion. Nothing more, nothing less.
Part of the mission of Independent Newsmedia is to
encourage public debate of issues. After having the privilege of getting to
know some of you in the past years, we can see there are no shortages of ideas
and opinions out there. We want to help you share those with your neighbors. Not
everyone will agree with every opinion.
Our country was built on the idea of freedom of
expression, and someone else’s freedom to do so should not be curtailed simply
because it does not agree with your view. While some opinions might seem
offensive or “nonsensical” to some, people still have the freedom to express
themselves.
Plenty of times, letters we receive make us cringe,
too. But we will not censor an opinion because it goes against our views or for
fear it will offend some.
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, but it is
useless unless it is exercised.
The philosophy of Independent Newsmedia is that people,
at times, need a chance to speak out on public issues. Our goal is to provide a
forum for local opinions, ideas, solutions, praise and, of course, complaints.
Please keep in mind letters, both in print and on the
Web, are for the discussion of public issues, not personal attacks. While some
criticism of people involved in public issues is legitimate, we try to make
sure comments center on the individual’s public performance.
We take very seriously our responsibility to edit
letters for the newspaper carefully to make sure the printed comments stay
within the bounds of fair play.
Topics about your community are given top priority. We
edit letters for clarity, fairness and length (a rule of thumb is to keep
letters at 300 words).
Please let us know if you think we can do a better job.
All letters, except those considered to be libelous,
will be published. Keep in mind that libel and offensive are two very different
things. So please do not be bashful about sending in letters for fear there
will not be enough room to publish them all. Opinion items not published one
week will be held over for the following weeks’ editions.
We strive to fulfill our mission to facilitate
community dialogue and hope you enjoy reading what your neighbors are thinking,
and contribute some material of your own.
Implicit in your patronage of our publication is our
responsibility to act impartially and respect your rights as established by the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, that document is our raison
d’être.
If you see a letter you disagree with, please pick up your
pen or flip open your laptop. We want to hear from you and will make space to
share your voice with the community.
