LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

When I first came to the Bulletin last October, I spoke with everyone I could to hear what they liked about this paper, what they wanted from the Bulletin and how they felt underserved by our publication.

A common theme that popped up was the presence of political columns on the opinion page. They had been removed before I got here. I won’t rehash that again, but I respected the reasoning behind the removal, and I hoped to find a way to bring them back that would please all parties involved.

Honestly, when I first came to the Bulletin, I wanted to nix the opinion page entirely. We’re a news outlet, after all. Who needs another opinion?

What I quickly came to realize is that the opinion page was an outlet for the people in this community, a space where ideas and viewpoints can be discussed respectfully.

Last week, the Democrat article covered abortion. We received letters taking issue with the argument and they are published here on this very page. We don’t endorse anything on our

We don’t endorse anything on our opinion page. What we do endorse is the right of every citizen in this county to have their voice heard, and the right of others to respectfully take issue with any column published on this page. This page is the space to do that.

Obviously, last week is an extreme example of this, but the concept and policy remain the same.

I’m not daft. I knew the column would not sit well with some readers, and please know it is never my intention to bring anyone any pain. However, it is also not my intention to create a one-sided echo chamber.

If I turned away Ms. Sinclair’s column, I’d have to turn away anything from anyone on the topic, and thus I would feel like I had broken a promise to the community for what this page is to them.

Thank you to everyone who submits columns and to the people who write letters responding to them. I’m very proud of this page and am eternally grateful to anyone who takes the time to write in and continue this community dialogue.