From time to time I think it's nice to let readers know how I arrive at some of the decions I make here at the Times-Union.
Lately, a couple of readers have expressed concern about our letters to the editor.
The comments go something like this:
"Why must I continuously see certain names in the letters to the editor? It seems as if certain people just want to 'face off.'The letters used to be important stuff and even though I didn't agree with all the opinions, I was able to keep an open mind. Now I see the same names over and over again, bickering back and forth to each other. Why doesn't the Times-Union use their right to NOT print letters by certain people when they begin arguing back and forth?"
There are a couple of reasons.
First, the only thing this newspaper - or any small daily newspaper, for that matter - has to sell is local content. So I am a fanatic of local content.
The more the better.
I understand - as do most readers - that by the time you get your newspaper, the story about Myanmar or China or the election is old news.
It wasn't always like that, but it is now. There is news everywhere, all the time. There are news radio stations, cable news stations. There's satellite radio and Internet news.
But the only place you're going to find out how the school board voted is in your Times-Union. It's that unique local content that attracts readers.
Now, I know some of our letter writers are off kilter from time to time. I also know that some of their opinions are completely whacky.
But I would much rather have a whacky local opinion with a local person's name underneath it than another column by a political pundit from the Washington Post.
Certainly, syndicated columnists have their place and we publish lots of their opinions.
But it's the local content that's important to me and that's why I like it when we have lots of letters.
I hate to turn them away.
But I do turn them away, actually. Believe it or not, even by my very liberal standards, we do get letters that aren't fit to print.
Another reason I run all those letters - no matter how bizarre they may seem - has to do with freedom of the press.
I don't know if people think of it this way, but the only ones who have freedom of the press are those fortunate enough to control a press.
So what I like to do is pass that freedom along to readers. That way they, in a sense, can enjoy the same freedom of the press that I do.
I also think that letter writers tend to paint a picture of what people think is important.
I've been in the newspaper business 27 years now and I can never figure out what's going to generate letters.
I'll spend hours researching for a column and write what I think is a compelling piece that will generate lots of local opinion.
Not a peep.
Then we'll run a routine story about, well, a cop getting punched by an underage drinker and there is a veritable storm of letters.
(There is one thing you can always count on this town: Write something controversial about Tiger baskeball and you'll get letters.)
Letter writers also tend to out themselves by giving their opinions, and I think it's nice to know what makes some of these people tick.
For example, let's say Joe Blow is the parent of your kid's friend. You see a letter from Joe Blow saying that it's really not that big a deal for teens to drink alcohol as long as there's adult supervision. Good information to have the next time your kid asks to go over to Joe Blow's house.
Better the devil we know, I guess.
I certainly don't mean to offend anyone, but I don't envision changing the liberal letters policy anytime soon.
