Column: R-E publishes many viewpoints

The Republican Eagle occasionally publishes editorials from sister newspapers. We believe this diversifies the opinions published on this page and helps get people thinking.

We published a handful of editorials last year from The Forum, our company’s flagship paper based in Fargo, N.D., and we ran another one Aug. 22. The R-E selected an editorial on wind energy tax subsidies because this is a topic of high local interest that happens to involve decisions occurring on a regional and national scale.

I suspected publication would prompt local debate and it did. We ran readers’ reactions in the Aug. 25 and 29 editions and do so again today.

“Obviously the paper agrees with it since you published it,” one person told me.

“How could you support subsidies to wind energy when citizens have been fighting a wind farm?” another asked.

We publish many things and many points of view on issues. Sometimes we don’t agree with either side — there is middle ground — but that doesn’t stop us from giving people a voice.

Sometimes we choose to publish an editorial or column as a way to broaden discussion. The frac sand and wind debates have become so caustic in the last few years that one side essentially has bowed out of the discussion. That’s not healthy for anyone.

The Republican Eagle Editorial Board strives to engage citizens in public dialogue. This particular instance is a perfect example of why.

If we only published one side of a discussion, our community and our world would be a lesser place.

Tags: opinion, columns