Herald Extending Its Local Focus to Political Commentary as of Jan. 1

I’m letting readers, advertisers and contributors to know that there has been an important change in the Herald’s policy regarding political content.

As of Jan. 1, 2021, the Herald will no longer publish any opinions regarding political matters beyond what is immediately local.

This policy affects any commentary on any state, national or international political issues unless there is an unambiguous, clear, direct and definable effect on Morrisons Cove.

General musings or opinions about national politics will not be published, in accordance with the Herald’s longstanding policy of focusing on local people, businesses and events.

This will mean changes in at least two of the Herald’s monthly columns, those written by Wayne Bush and Dave Scott. Both have been informed of this change and both have been given the opportunity to continue to write a monthly column for the Herald. However, both have primarly written about national politics, and as of Jan. 1, this content will no longer be published in the Herald.

This change applies to all. It affects Dave Scott, Linda Williams, any incoming letters to the editor and me, the publisher. No opinions about political matters above the immediately local level will be published.

The only political content which will be permitted to be discussed or raised in the Herald’s pages after Jan. 1 will be that which is very local, such as Bedford and Blair counties, area school boards, boroughs, townships and other local government entities.

News from the local state senators and local state representatives will still be covered if it is clearly and directly relevant to the Cove.

We will still cover local elections but election coverage and related opinions will be limited to the weeks immediately before and immediately after the local election. We will continue our policy of not endorsing candidates.

This change is across the board, from political Left to Right, and from the level of international news on down, stopping at our immediate local governments. No state, national or international political opinion will be published, no matter where it appears on the political spectrum.

Why

There are two main reasons for this change.

First, the Herald is a local newspaper, run to provide local information about those here in Morrisons Cove. We do not write about nor provide information about state, national and international news unless there is a strong and clear effect on the Cove.

We have rarely covered international or national news. Our coverage of state-level issues has been limited to those that have a strong effect on the Cove. We are (logically) extending this limitation to the publication of political opinion.

The Herald is a local newspaper, serving a local audience. We are focusing ourselves on that.

Second, comments made to me in person, by phone and by letter have indicated that the publication of opinions on politics above the local level has caused a change in the perception of the Herald. There is a great deal of misinformation being spread and false assumptions being made. Nearly all of this can be attributed to the publication of opinions on national politics. People are making assumptions and making threats. None of this is acceptable.

I rarely receive a letter threatening to cancel a subscription because of something we publish about a local township or school district. I get a letter such as that maybe once or twice a year.

But lately, I receive nearly weekly messages threatening the cancellation of subscriptions. These letters – every one of them lately – are prompted by the publication of an opinion on national politics. This indicates two things to me very clearly:

1. People are misunderstanding the mission of their local newspaper and

2. It is almost entirely the commentary on national politics that is causing people to cancel their subscriptions.

It seems that people are letting one small part of the Herald blind them to the much-larger value of the community newspaper. It makes no sense for five percent of the Herald’s content to be causing 95 percent of the criticism.

My hope is that by removing this one thing which seems to create a lot of animosity toward the Herald (for whatever reason), people will be able to see their local community paper for what it is and value it for what it provides. I myself will miss the opinions but they are just one part of what the Herald is.

I came to this policy change after talking with several people whom I respect and after reviewing the comments that came to the Herald following my addition to Wayne Bush’s column last week (Dec. 17, 2020 edition of the Herald, Page A-4).

I have come to the conclusion that this policy is logical in light of the Herald’s mission as a local newspaper. We are a local newspaper and we cover only local news. It is logical that our mission would encompass all that we publish, both news and opinion.

What this is not

Allow me to address head-on what I suspect are questions regarding this policy change. This is NOT an attempt to get any columnist to quit. This is not an attempt to silence anyone. Wayne Bush, Dave Scott and Linda Williams are all affected equally, as are all letters to the editor and me, the publisher.

No one’s voice will be silenced. Those who wish to speak up on national politics have many, many outlets for their opinions. There are many online platforms for people to express opinions. Wayne Bush and Dave Scott both publish their opinions online.

Those who have questions or concerns may contact me at the Herald at 793-2144.

Thank you for reading.