Let’s keep talking

An editorial we ran in our Sunday paper (“Vigilante justice not the answer,” page A6) has caused quite a stir, with social media, website comments and phone calls from readers debating the position we took.

Many of these comments have been critical of our editorial, which is great. Although we don’t write opinions to intentionally anger our readers, we do take strong stands and try to craft thought-provoking debate within our community. This editorial has certainly done that.

We do not hold any ill will toward those who take issue with us, and we certainly hope those who disagree with our opinion won’t hold a grudge against us.

As a local newspaper, our job is to inform our community about the news going on here and to uncover the provocative and meaningful issues that need to be discussed.

We strive to have an open and transparent process that allows anyone who disagrees with our opinions to submit rebuttals. We offer space in both our letters to the editor section as well as longer “Spectrum” pieces that run as op-eds. In today’s paper we have two such opinions from community members, opinions which espouse distinctly different approaches to the problem of crime here in the Valley.

Neither of these opinions are our own. We think the role of an opinion page should be to have our say and let others have theirs. Having a difference of opinion and then debating subjects on their merits is crucial to a healthy and functioning democracy. We respect the opinions of anyone who can adhere to basic standards of decency and decorum and will run almost any opinion regardless of its point of view if it’s presented in such a way that is not threatening or insulting to individuals. That we do not allow, as we feel personal attacks and name-calling are the antithesis of a respectful and healthy debate.

We have no problem with folks who think we’re wrong. We’ve never claimed to be a perfect newspaper, and those of us here behind the scenes recognize that we’re not perfect people. Our goal isn’t to be perfect.

We feel it’s our role as journalists in the community to foster debate and force our readers to think critically. But we want to hear your side of things, too. If you have a reason why you think we’ve erred — or if you like what we’ve said — please speak up yourself. Send us a letter, call our editor or make a (respectful) comment on our website. We understand we have a responsibility to present all sides of every debate, and it’s a responsibility we take seriously.

We hope that you will continue to read our paper not only for the community news that is the core of what we do, but also for the thought-provoking opinions that allow us to spark debate and move issues beyond the headlines.

Although we might find ourselves on different sides of how problems in our community need to be solved, rest assured that we are all fighting the same battle when it comes to the solutions we’d like to see. We all want to live in a safe, friendly, positive community, and we intend to continue fighting to keep the Valley one of the best places in the world to live.

And we think there’s room in a strong, vibrant community for strong opinions and healthy, respectful debate.

As always, we thank our readers for contributing to the continued success of your community newspaper. While you might not always agree with what we say, we hope you understand that our goal by presenting controversial opinions and editorials is not to anger, cause trouble or even try and sell more newspapers (though that doesn’t hurt!); our mission is to make you think. We hope you appreciate that and will continue to support this mission even though you might not always like what we have to say.