Many times when Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. posts a column or opinion piece, we are flooded with comments about, “Stick to the news.”
Things like, “You should write about newsworthy events, student achievements, local government and sports.” And we do.
As a company, we produce five newspapers a week filled with deep-dives into local government, previews of upcoming events, highlights of our local athletes and students and many other newsworthy topics. But in each paper, one page is reserved for editorials. It’s called the Opinion Page, and it’s been around in newspapers for decades upon decades.
The importance of sharing opinions of local journalists isn’t to make you agree with us. It isn’t so you suddenly jump ship and change political parties. The point is simply to start conversations.
Recently, we’ve written a few timely editorials such as one on the Gulf of America and another about the Wetumpka Indians mascot. Both have been met with vitriol from many Facebook commenters — some who admittedly didn’t even read the full columns, only the headlines.
It’s unfortunate how many people have said basically, “Stay in your lane.” As if journalists cannot enter a civil conversation about something they’ve studied, researched and written about thoroughly.
When we write a column or opinion piece, we are typically offering both sides of the argument and trying to understand where each is coming from. The purpose is to begin a conversation and to point readers in the direction of finding reliable sources and information.
Editorials have long been a part of the newspapers’ history, and we are lucky to have a space to have these kinds of conversations. We also invite anyone to submit a guest column or letter to the editor. Our newspapers are the voice of the community, and we want to reflect that each and every day.
