Letters, letters, comments and opinions, we appreciate them all. A community newspaper is about the people who live in the community. The newspaper is a reflection of what the residents are thinking about and the general sentiments around events and happenings.
People can comment on stories which appear in the on-line edition and those comments show up on Facebook. It’s easy and it is anonymous and at times the comments can be vicious and mean-spirited and unwarranted mostly because they are not made face-to-face. That takes some courage. We can and will remove offensive comments off Facebook. (The policy is the same as it is for the print edition.) The commentator can still see their comments and their friends can see them, but others cannot.
If our readers have an issue with the paper, about what or what is not in it, they are welcome to come to the office and speak to us. We encourage it. If a letter writer just wants to get something off their chest, go ahead. But, it does not mean we will publish a letter which is a personal attack on anyone. If a letter comes in about a business or a fight between neighbours for example, we won’t publish those either. Threatening letters go no where, except into the round file (or the police).
We report the news and the news doesn’t always sit right with people, but if it’s news it gets on the pages. We also publish stories about the community and the people who live here.
We admit to making mistakes in spelling or grammar and sometimes spell check helps, other times it doesn’t. We publish about a million words weekly and mistakes happen, we’re human after all.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. The editor has many opinions, but they are just that — an opinion. We encourage our readers to comment, just be fair about it.
