The Voice

Since the publication of our last issue, we have had several people approach us in regards to Brian Shreve’s last political column. These people accuse us of being a liberal, biased paper.

For our readers, we would like to clarify the definition of a column. A column reflects the opinion of its author, (in this case, Shreve), and not that of the paper in which it is published.

Shreve’s column, as well as letters to the editor, are stating the opinions of the people who wrote them. Their views may be extreme right, extreme left, or even in the lunatic fringe, but they are their opinions, and The Colonnade has an ethical and social obligation to publish letters from all kinds of viewpoints so long as they meet a certain criteria.

We may or may not agree with the letters that we receive, but we are obligated to print them nonetheless. A well-written letter that fits all of the submission requirements stated in the editorial guidelines on the left-hand side of this page will be printed, even if its message is that The Colonnade is a terrible paper, and that we should be burned at the stake for our reporting.

Trust us, we don’t want to be burned at the stake, but if you think we should, more power to you.

You, the reader, are not required to agree with the opinions of our columnists. If their views upset you, or you think that your view of the issue is more accurate or correct, then by all means write a letter to the editor and tell us!

There’s a very good bet that you are not alone in your opinions. A letter to the editor could effectively speak for a large number of people across GC&SU, and potentially enlighten those that may not see your point of view. If nothing else, your letter would at least allow other people to read what you have to say, so you can get what you want to say off your chest.

The point we’ve rambled on to make here is that if you don’t bother to contribute, we can’t hear you, and neither can anyone else. We do the best we can to express a variety of views, but if you don’t contribute, we can’t promise that your particular views will be expressed, and you can’t expect someone else to do it for you.

Remember, these columns speak for their authors, and not for the entire staff of The Colonnade. That’s what this box is for.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 30 2005. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry