Sunday, October 26, 1997

Newspaper's role not limited to news

By Glenn Dromgoole / Abilene Reporter-News

The caller was upset that the newspaper had published an editorial on the front page supporting the proposed new library.

Newspapers should be objective, he said. They should cover the news fairly and impartially. They shouldn't be taking an advocacy position.

Well, I agree with some of the caller's concerns but not all of them.

Yes, news coverage should strive for objectivity, for fairness, for giving both sides of an issue. And over the course of time, I think the news coverage of the library issue -- going back to the two task forces that debated the matter -- has aired all sides of the issue. I can't imagine a significant point that hasn't been covered in some fashion.

But covering the news is just one side of the story. The other side is the editorial, or advocacy, role of newspapers. And that tradition goes back a lot farther historically than the idea of objective news coverage.

Newspapers in this country, or almost any other country in the world, originally were founded as advocates of particular points of view. People didn't start newspapers to cover the news objectively. They started newspapers because they had something they wanted to say.

Over time, that's changed somewhat. Newspapers still take editorial positions on issues or on candidates, but they also try to make it clear that they expect their news coverage to be fair, impartial, objective.

In the case of the library, for example, we expect our reporters to cover the pros and the cons, the proponents and the opponents. We also expect our coverage to include a lot of information about the issue, historical data, comparisons to other communities.

At the same time, however, we are going to be campaigning editorially for a new library because we -- the newspaper's management represented by the editorial board -- believe it is very important to our community. Last Sunday we kicked off a series of editorials which will run every day during early voting and on election day, Nov. 4. We started the series on the front page -- clearly labeled as an editorial -- because we believe it is that important an issue.

A newspaper ought to be an unapologetic champion of its town and a crusader for making it a better place, and that's what we are trying to do by campaigning strongly for a new library. The voters may or may not agree -- that's why we have elections. But we're going to do our best to help persuade voters that building a new library is the right thing for our community to do.

Meanwhile, there is a third important role a newspaper plays -- the role of community forum. Regardless of what our position is editorially, we also give voice to a variety of views through the letters to the editor column.

The letters column is the public forum for Abilene. There isn't anything else that can compare to it. It is one of the best-read parts of this newspaper -- or any newspaper.

If you think we only print letters that agree with our point of view, then you haven't been reading the letters in this newspaper. We print letters that agree with us, disagree with us, cuss us and, occasionally, praise us.

And we print letters that don't have anything to do with anything we've said editorially -- they are just comments that people want to make, and the letters column is the best place they can think of to make them.

As the library issue has heated up, the number of letters has increased significantly. And we expect to be flooded up until the deadline for library letters, which is 5 p.m. this Wednesday.

Speaking of letters, beginning next Sunday the Opinion II page will be renamed Readers' Forum and will be devoted entirely to views from readers. We encourage you to participate in the dialogue through letters or guest columns.

Meanwhile, we will continue to speak our piece in the editorial column, in personal columns like this one, and occasionally on the front page.