1.7 C
Niagara Falls
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Letter: Keep opinion columns on opinion pages

Dear editor:

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading The Lake Report since it began publishing a few years ago. Coverage of our town council meetings, our business community, developments affecting our all-important agricultural community and stories about local people and events has had me eagerly awaiting the next edition in my mailbox every Thursday.

I have particularly enjoyed the learned and informative articles written by Dr. William Brown, a man of science and medicine. 

Of late, however, I am becoming increasingly concerned that this wonderful local paper of ours might turn into a political rag, a polemical tabloid. 

To wit, the front page opinion piece by Dr. Brown in the April 15 edition that “Our leaders have failed us too often in this pandemic.” I could not help noticing only one leader's picture appeared along with this piece. 

Hmmm, I began wondering, are The Lake Report and Dr. Brown exhibiting their political bias? Perhaps it was an oversight that only one leader's photo appeared on the front page, above the fold, rather than it being a deliberate editorial decision. I hoped that was the case. 

Reading on, however, it became abundantly clear in the closing paragraphs that, indeed, political bias was being demonstrated. This was disappointing, especially coming from my favourite local paper and from someone whose thoughts on medical and scientific matters I'd come to respect.

If The Lake Report prefers to descend into the realm of a political rag sheet, please declare your political bias up front, leaving it to the paper's dedicated readers, like me, to decide whether to continue viewing it as the “go-to” weekly newspaper for the best, most reliable coverage of our town.

Moreover, perhaps the editor and Dr. Brown would like a “do over” given some of the decisions coming out of Queen's Park in recent days, together with the photo of another leader.

Better yet, and my personal preference, it would be wonderful if The Lake Report published its opinion pieces in the opinion section, rather than on the front page, and stuck with its strongest suit, bringing us the stories about local events and the people who make NOTL tick. 

Alan Young
NOTL

Editor's note: The letter writer's opinion is most appreciated. The Lake Report has no particular political agenda and, as is the practice at most newspapers, publishes opinion pieces on Page 1 on occasion when the subject matter merits such prominent display. Our sole interest is presenting the most important, compelling and interesting mix of news, features and opinion every week for our readers. 

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