Now that election season has begun in Ocean Pines, candidates, their supporters and their detractors should be aware of how the letters to the editor policies work at this paper.
Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but a number of people over the years have been irked when the letters they sent for publication inexplicably never made it into print.
Well, maybe not inexplicably. The paper publishes its letters policy before every election and has been doing that for years. It all stems from a campaign incident, when our papers were flooded with dozens of similarly written letters from residents endorsing a particular candidate.
Suspecting a political game was afoot to monopolize our letters space, none of those letters ran and the policy was developed that no letters endorsing or criticizing any candidate would be run in these papers.
This doesn’t mean that issues can’t be discussed in this space, or that observations can’t be made or that criticisms can’t be offered. We would be delighted to publish such letters as long as they are signed and have provided some means — a phone number, for instance — of verifying the identity of the author.
All we ask is that these comments aren’t about a specific candidate or candidates.
Should anyone feel absolutely compelled to endorse someone or expound on someone’s unfitness for election, we recommend buying advertising space.
While that sounds somewhat mercenary on our part, that’s how such things work at all levels of the media business, from small town operations like ours, to national media.
The letters to the editor space exists to promote an exchange of ideas in the community, not to further anyone’s election agenda.