Just to be clear ...

As usual, social media is getting it wrong, so I want to be clear about a recent change at the Herald.

The Herald is not ending any of our local columns. All three of our current columnists have been told that they may continue writing and continue to have their work published in the pages and website of the Morrisons Cove Herald.

What has changed is that the Herald is changing its policy on opinion content to match its policy on news content. That’s all.

Wayne Bush, Dave Scott and Linda Williams have all been told that they may continue to write and be published in the Herald if they wish to do so.

Wayne Bush has replied that he will write one more column and then be done. That is his choice.

Dave Scott is reviewing his options.

Linda Williams has not replied.

The change is that after this edition of the Herald, Dec. 31, 2020, the Herald will no longer publish content about national politics. That was already the case with news content. The only time the Herald published national political news was if there was a direct and immediate effect here in the Cove. This was shown by the Herald’s news coverage of the Trump rally in October. It was national political news, but because there was an effect here in the Cove, we covered it.

We are extending this policy, logically, to cover opinions published in the Herald.

The Herald will still publish opinions. If you wish to write an opinion about a local issue, we will gladly publish your opinion.

If you wish to express an opinion about a national issue and can show how it directly affects the Cove, we will publish your opinion.

If you wish to simply write about something non-controversial, or something about everyday life which made you think, we will still publish your writing.

There is only one thing that is changing and that is that the Herald will no longer publish opinions about national politics unless there is a clear and direct effect on the Cove.

It makes sense

This change only makes sense. The Herald seldom writes about national or international news. It does so only when there is a clear effect on the Cove.

Now, as of Jan. 1, 2021, the Herald will also not be publishing opinions about national or international news, unless there is a clear effect on the Cove.

There are two main reasons for this change and none of them have anything to do directly with Wayne Bush, Dave Scott or Linda Williams.

Why, Part 1

The first reason is that there’s been an increase in negative comments about the Herald recently, with people on social media making unfair, inaccurate and untrue assumptions about the Herald, its content and its owners.

Despite our best attempts to use reason and logic and evidence, accusations and name-calling have persisted.

This is odd, because opinions about national politics make up only a very small part of the Herald’s content. Most of the Herald’s pages every week are filled with news and photos concerning the people, places and businesses of Morrisons Cove. Less than 10 percent of our content is devoted to national political opinion. Yet that small percentage of our content – less than 10 percent – is generating 95 percent of negative comments about the Herald.

That does not make sense. So, we’re doing what makes sense: We’re removing what is causing the problem.

If the Herald was a restaurant and we offered 10 dinners and one of them was generating 95 percent of our food-related complaints, it would make sense to remove that one problematic dinner item from the menu and focus on the other nine dinners.

That is what we are doing.

Why, Part 2

Also, the change just makes sense. If the Herald does not publish national news, why would it publish opinions about national news?

Those who want to read or write opinions about national news have thousands of places to go for that. There are many places offering such content, including social media, websites and print publications. Anyone who wants to read or write opinions about national politics will not have any problem finding a place to do so.

However, consider this. Of all the publications in the world – online and print – how many of them are concerned only about Morrisons Cove? How many other publications in the entire world care exclusively about Morrisons Cove?

There is only one publication that cares exclusively about Morrisons Cove and that is the Morrisons Cove Herald. The Herald is a local newspaper which is only concerned about local issues and news.

Why would the Herald provide content that readers can get elsewhere when the soul of our newspaper is right here in Morrisons Cove?

So, we will proudly remain the only news publication that cares about Morrisons Cove and we will focus our efforts on that.

Wayne Bush has not been cancelled by the Herald. The last time we checked, his past writings were all available on his website. Wayne Bush is certainly free to continue to publish his opinions on his website, where they can be read for free, no subscription required.

Thank you for taking the time to understand this change.

Thank you for reading.