Note about Letters to the Editor
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
We welcome Letters to the Editor here at this newspaper. Just as the town cryer, the public square, and the newspapers of old, we know that allowing readers space to share their thoughts is a good thing.
We usually know the writer, or verify them with a phone call.
Unfortunately, we had one that slipped by all of us.
Last week, we published a letter from someone named Roland T. Collins of Lamar, S.C.
In the letter, words the writer used hurt the feelings of the person they were talking about.
Now, in this contentious election season in the nation, someone having hurt feelings as a result of someone’s words seems commonplace.
But honestly, is that what we are going to be? A nation full of people that uses words as weapons, that seek to harm and hurt?
We had a gentleman close to the person the letter was referring to that took the time to look the person up and found no Roland T. Collins as a registered voter in Lamar.
Now, either someone played a trick on me, or there really is a man of that name.
The bigger story is, I should have double-triple checked; I should have made certain that the letter was from a real person.
I also should keep a close eye on the tone of letters here in the future.
As an editor, I have tried to keep my opinion to myself. I think it is best for the paper that my own political leanings stay private. I’m not one to blather on social media.
That does not make me a better person; if anything, it makes me hesitant to invite controversary. And darn it, people on social media are mean. Cruel, and viscious at times, too!
But here in this little paper in this little corner of South Carolina, we can be civil. We can voice opinions without calling anyone “boy” or other derogatory terms.
If Roland T. Collins is a real person, I’d ask that they let me set the record straight.
And from now on, I will keep a closer eye on letters.