Whether it was how American Rescue Plan Act money should be spent, or Gov. Phil Scott’s vetos, or the war raging in Gaza, we heard from many Vermonters in 2023. Whether it was in a letter to the editor or a commentary, these pages have been brimming with opinions.
For that, we are quite grateful.
Ultimately, it is the subscribers and the advertisers who decide our bottom line. But a thriving editorial page is a good barometer for how engaged the community is with its local newspaper. We are very fortunate that so many readers (and even a fair number of folks who are not subscribers) who feel our local newspaper is a valuable platform for public dialogue.
Because that’s what it is. It is a give and take. It is a sharing of ideas and perspectives. It is a place where arguments can be had, and attempts at swaying opinion can be made. It is where the muscles of the First Amendment can be well exercised.
We see that as critical to an engaged community. If the citizenry is informed and willing to air concerns at the risk of pushback, that is a step in the right direction. That is not to say the process is perfect. This year, much to the consternation of some of our more avid readers, Executive Editor Steven Pappas closed off comments to the websites of The Times Argus and Rutland Herald, saying at the time of the decision many of the comments were irrelevant to the article being discussed, and online trolls were either using the space as an arena to harass and bully commenters, or hijack the space with links and comments pushing their own websites, products and personal agendas. There were also a few very pointed threats against the newspapers’ staff, specifically the journalists covering local news. Moderating the disrupters — many whom figured out how to remain anonymous — was taking up too much bandwidth for the staff. The editorial page, which has — for hundreds of years now — served the public as a proper space for discussion, remained the best option for accountability and civility.
Some of the more ardent users and readers of the now-absent comments felt the step was an erosion of their right to free speech, and that the newspaper was actively engaging in censorship. We lost a few readers over the inability to interact with articles online. We see that as addition by subtraction.
Bullies will always exist, but they do not need to be present in order to say “all opinions are being heard.” The same way any business owner would ask a belligerent customer to leave, we did the same thing for the sake of providing a safer space for others and ourselves.
As is always the case, a few writers took exception with our coverage. We often print letters from our detractors. We are not afraid of criticism, and try not to take personally the critiques — some more scathing than others — made at our expense.
Nor do we immediately turn off the spigot of a lively, informative back-and-forth. Although, more times than not, readers tire of the bickering and one-upsmanship. They will ask us not to devote so much ink to ego and put more into issues.
If a newspaper is a reflection of the community it serves, the editorial page should also be a microcosm as well. The courage it takes to sit down and write something, put it out there for thousands of people to judge, and then risk pushback is daunting at best. Too many readers — some who have been reading newspaper for ages now — still have a hard time discerning that news articles inform (what our staff writers provide as news) and individuals who submit letters to the editor or commentaries end up on the editorial page. (To make the distinction even cleaer, some newspapers go out of their way to make sure the editorial page is called the Opinion Page.)
Simply put: The editorial page is its own section, like business, arts, sports, news, classifieds, comics, puzzles. It is another section of the newspaper that serves as an entry point to the local community.
This past year was no different than other years. We had folks pushing a lot of misinformation in their commentaries or letters. We had a few people try to submit as someone else in an attempt to embarrass an individual. We had a few letter writers get so frustrated with not getting their way, they simply took their ball and have gone elsewhere. And, we are well aware, feelings have been hurt; some issues we have covered and provided space to public discourse have pitted neighbor against neighbor. We hope those fences can be mended.
We lost a few regular letter-writers to age and infirmity. We also lost Peter Berger, who wrote Poor Elijah’s Almanack, earlier this year. The popular columnist for the Perspective section died earlier this year. We miss those voices.
Fortunately, as our demographic as a state evolves, and we see new generations of Vermonters taking charge, we are hearing from new voices on a host of issues.
We are so glad we can provide a place to share them.
