Forum connects candidates to voting community

Frontiersman editorial board

The Frontiersman's candidate forum is tonight at Mat-Su College, and it looks as though we'll have a good turnout from the candidates. We believe the most important function of a community newspaper is to act as a place where people come to share information. We strive to accomplish that in many ways.

Of course, the news and feature pages are the most obvious place where we share information with the public. Presenting news about important issues and interesting people in the Valley is a critical part of the Frontiersman's commitment, but it's only part of the role we believe we should play. Opinion pages are perhaps the most important section of any newspaper, and we're very proud of our opinion section. We strive to present editorials that are fair and balanced while still being tough when the issue requires it. We also receive a good selection of reader letters, and some outstanding Spectrum submissions. The quality and passion in those letters and Spectrum pieces reflects well upon our readers, and it helps us know that we have an engaged readership.

Frontiersman also is proud of our many other publications, especially Peak Magazine. Peak offers us the opportunity to share information with our readers that wouldn't normally find space on the pages of the newspaper. We also enjoy sharing important and entertaining information in our special sections -- Summer Visitor's Guide, the hunting guide and many others.

We feel there is more we can do in our effort to maintain a two-way forum for communication in the Valley, however. Some issues and events are so important to so many people that it's difficult to cover all the bases in the newspaper. Elections are one of the best examples of that. Communication is the one most important element during the election process. It's critical for the candidates to share their views and positions on important issues with potential voters. While much of that can be accomplished through news articles and informational pieces, it is always valuable to hear it straight from the candidates.

We've decided to host this forum with that in mind. A candidate forum is an opportunity to see how candidates perform under pressure, and how they respond to questions on the spot. It's also an opportunity for voters to get a sense of the candidates as people. There is an element of spontaneity at candidate forums that is often difficult to capture in a normal interview situation. That spontaneity helps to connect a personality to the views and values the candidate espouses. If this forum goes well, we hope to host more in the future. We hope to see many readers tonight at 6 p.m. at the Mat-Su College campus in Room 117/119 in Snodgrass Hall.