Several months ago we said farewell to one of our longtime employees and recounted one of his more passionate pleas for co-workers in the editorial department: words have meaning, choose the right one.
We were reminded of that phrase again this week as a present day councillor and recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal took a swipe at our editor for his “negativism” in an editorial last week.
It seemed a fairly heavy word to use, not once but twice, in the same letter (entitled Too negative and included below) to describe an opinion piece directed at the inconsistencies as of late in the awarding of jubilee medals.
While it appears councillor John Scott actually agreed with our editor that the medals have lost some of their lustre, it’s hard to discern what politicians are really trying to say at the best of times.
From our perspective, coverage of diamond jubilee recipients in Wellington County has been plentiful since last August. In fact, our Oct. 19, 2012 edition included a narrative of Scott’s personal accomplishments for receiving the award, along with other deserving recipients.
Perhaps the accolade was not large enough to suit Mr. Scott based on his recent admonishment, but we try hard to treat all people fairly. Although the Queen’s Jubilee concluded in 2012, we still try to get in photos of those receiving the award at this late date out of a sense of fairness to all winners.
One of the great advantages of working at a community Newspaper is that we do in fact get to report on the good that happens. Any given week we have countless stories about community groups working hard to serve others, volunteer initiatives, the coveted Inside Wellington cover story on a local personality or group, arts and entertainment information and free listings of coming events for qualifying community groups. If there is a celebration or festival, we are usually there recognizing the people and events that make Wellington a great place to live.
There are times however, that the News isn’t so good and we’re there for that too. All communities in Wellington have had divisive issues and we’re generally there in the middle of it, trying to get out both sides of the story.
Gravel pits, residential and industrial developments, budget talks, programming cuts or lately, library projects, have been quite contentious. We’re there, sharing information with the community and for the most part our coverage forms part of the discussion in homes around the county.
Along with News coverage, comes opinion in the form of letters and our Newspaper’s editorial. The dialogue amongst residents can be quite interesting, ranging from new ideas to off-the-wall-claims, but that is part of the deal with free speech. We counsel often against cheap talk, nurturing instead the notion that free speech is invaluable and some opinions have to be suffered through if we are to expand the thoughts of others.
In keeping with the Newspaper tradition, an editorial is published each week offering an opinion or note on a subject of interest to readers. It can be a seasonal topic, it can be an issue that might come up at council or often it is an opinion which connects the dots for readers. Often it will be definitive, taking a position for which we are accountable to our readers.
Sometimes we lead cheers, and yes, sometimes we’ll call a subject for what it is.
