Providing Open Forum

Last week Mark Melvin called out the Pathfinder for printing Rick Ferguson’s Letter to the Editor (July 14) and more specifically the “prominent black box of divisive fearmongering” that accompanied it.

Since taking ownership of the Pathfinder we are proud to say that we have been willing to print all the letters we have received with the exception of a couple “thank you” and unsigned letters.

The Pathfinder will continue to be an open forum for letters, however I do agree with Mark’s point on the black box of text. It made it nearly impossible to miss and or ignore for readers. Maybe Letters to the Editor should be just that, letters.

Andi and I have been debating this all week. Over the years we have printed several photos that have accompanied letters but never a box of text or other graphic. Would we be willing to print an equally offensive editorial comic? It’s a deeper question when you consider who determines the offensiveness. I can tell you that we have printed a lot of things in the last four years that have been offensive to at least one of our staff.

The Pathfinder’s letter policy currently doesn’t address graphics or photos. We have printed all that have been submitted that weren’t copyrighted by someone other than the writer. We will work on the policy to clarify and put some boundaries on them in the coming weeks.

Readers, let us know what you think.