EDITORIAL: What we believe
The opinion page holds a special place in newspapers. It is here that ideas are expressed, issues debated and solutions sought for complex problems.
This debate takes several forms. Columnists express their personal views about local, state, national or international issues. Editorial cartoons also express their opinions visually, often with humor and biting sarcasm.
Readers also have their space on this page with letters to the editor. Here, readers can debate and discuss issues they feel passionately about. Sometimes those views are about politics, sometimes they are about local problems that need to be resolved.
And then there’s this column, the newspaper editorial. Here, the newspaper expresses its institutional views about the community and the world.
These views are based on a variety of sources. Newspapers are unique in that they have representatives — reporters — who attend countless public meetings and sift through piles of public documents. Over time, this collection of data builds a body of institutional knowledge allowing issues large and small to be analyzed.
Some believe that newspaper editorials are simply expressions of political dogma. But good editorials are not shrills for a political party or other narrow interests. Good editorials synthesize information and attempt to frame issues for a deeper, more meaningful debate.
Still, everyone brings certain views to the table when they debate public policy issues. This newspaper is no different. There are certain core principals we believe:
--We believe in fiscal responsibility of our governments. While many in government give lip service to accountability, some governments do not live up to that. We follow the money and when spending or tax abuses occur, we have no hesitation writing about it.
--We believe in leadership for public service, not private gain. Most people involved in community leadership or public positions do their jobs for the community. But some are mostly self-serving, using their position to further themselves. Those people need to be held accountable.
--We believe in open government and transparency of public actions. While there are some limited legal reasons for closed-door meetings of public officials, sometimes that is abused. The public’s business should be done in public.
--We believe in the freedom of speech and the rights of citizens to voice their opinions on public issues.
This newspaper certainly doesn’t have all the answers. But we will attempt to explain issues and offer ideas for debate.
By providing a wealth of information and a framework for discussion, we believe citizens in Barrow County will be better informed to make the right decisions for our community.
Readers also have their space on this page with letters to the editor. Here, readers can debate and discuss issues they feel passionately about. Sometimes those views are about politics, sometimes they are about local problems that need to be resolved.
And then there’s this column, the newspaper editorial. Here, the newspaper expresses its institutional views about the community and the world.
These views are based on a variety of sources. Newspapers are unique in that they have representatives — reporters — who attend countless public meetings and sift through piles of public documents. Over time, this collection of data builds a body of institutional knowledge allowing issues large and small to be analyzed.
Some believe that newspaper editorials are simply expressions of political dogma. But good editorials are not shrills for a political party or other narrow interests. Good editorials synthesize information and attempt to frame issues for a deeper, more meaningful debate.
Still, everyone brings certain views to the table when they debate public policy issues. This newspaper is no different. There are certain core principals we believe:
--We believe in fiscal responsibility of our governments. While many in government give lip service to accountability, some governments do not live up to that. We follow the money and when spending or tax abuses occur, we have no hesitation writing about it.
--We believe in leadership for public service, not private gain. Most people involved in community leadership or public positions do their jobs for the community. But some are mostly self-serving, using their position to further themselves. Those people need to be held accountable.
--We believe in open government and transparency of public actions. While there are some limited legal reasons for closed-door meetings of public officials, sometimes that is abused. The public’s business should be done in public.
--We believe in the freedom of speech and the rights of citizens to voice their opinions on public issues.
This newspaper certainly doesn’t have all the answers. But we will attempt to explain issues and offer ideas for debate.
By providing a wealth of information and a framework for discussion, we believe citizens in Barrow County will be better informed to make the right decisions for our community.
[P.S., if you would like to be taken seriously as a newsgathering organization, the editing of copy must improve. Running your copy through spellcheck does NOT equate to editing, as the above proves. A newspaper riddled with these kind of errors (as your site regularly is) soon finds the bottom of my recycle bin, and a subscription becomes out of the question.]
Mike
The typos here tell me that it might not go through the xth revision another newspaper might mandate to catch the minor errors.
If a minor error that has no impact on the flow of the piece causes you distress, you might want to check the order of your priorities. :)
And my guess is he engages in pubic actions very infrequently, preferring instead to spend his time reading stellar web sites.
Keep up the good work, Barrow Journal. You may have gotten a B in grammar on this piece but your content, as usual, gets an A+.
As for grammar, spelling, and especially sentence construction, you are still head-and-shoulders above the "competition".