Contributed report
Last week, the Messenger published a “Commentary” and there were some readers that were a little confused as to why it was a commentary and not a typical letter to the editor. Let’s start with the news that goes into each weeks’ edition. A news article is where a reporter gathers information from a variety of sources and presents it in a balanced and unbiased manner, the goal being for the reader to end up with no idea of where that reporter’s own feelings may lie.
A commentary abides by the same information gathering rules, but is not only free to express personal opinion, but are given a bit more latitude to do so. Commentaries, by nature, are one-sided. Columnists are not required to be dispassionate, or even balanced. They are also given more leeway stylistically. The idea behind sharing that diversity of opinion is to strengthen democratic exchange, not quash it. These pieces are most commonly written by known members of the community, like a public official or by someone commenting on a well-known issue happening in the community. The main focus of a commentary is just as it says: to share an opinion or comment on a particular topic. Topics could range from the importance of supporting small businesses all the way up to frustrations over local or even national politics.
Letters to the editors (LTEs) are letters sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. LTEs are almost always written by a concerned citizen who is either dissatisfied with an article, satisfied with an article, wants to respond to another LTE, or wishes to clear up misinformation shared in a commentary. A reader can also write letters to the editor endorsing candidates, political parties or ballot measures, however, these letters are considered an advertisement, therefore they would have a fee attached to them. These specific letters will be “Paid Endorsement Letters”. With election season coming up, please check with our office for fees associated with these types of letters.
If you feel you want to have your opinion heard, engage with the community on a topic, or respond to something you disagree with, submit a letter to the editor and get it out to the public and let your voice be heard.