12.18.08 FREEDOM OF SPEECH? (souderton independent)

During the last few months I have written a letter to the editor of the Souderton Independent just about every week. A few letters have not been published. When a letter was not published I called and talked with the editor. She mentioned various reasons but most often stated that there was no room. The paper prints very few letters usually. The most I have seen might fill up one page but that was rare. Mostly it is one to three letters and there are weeks when no letters are printed. My response has been to say that opinion letters should be the centerpiece of any public newspaper and that no letter should be rejected unless libelous. Several weeks ago i sent a letter responding to the headline article presenting the viewpoint that the school board is driving teachers from the district. I was sent an email stating that Mike Morsch, general editor of Montgomery Newspapers had flagged it and that I could call him for the reason. Mr. Morsch stated that my articles needed to be 1. less preachy 2. shorter (300 words) 3. local.

In our discussion Morsch shared with me that the newspaper is not to be a bully pulpit for one voice. My response was that whether there is one voice or 1000 of all stripes of opinion each one should be published. It is very important that all voices be heard and that if, for a week or a while, there is only one voice that is fine. Others are free to respond as they will or not. The newspaper should not decide how many opinions or what type should be published. It is providing an extremely important civic duty in providing an indiscriminate public forum for free speech, discussion and debate. In not doing so it becomes a special interest and loses all importance.

Morsch's comment about making my writing less preachy seems to be on the special interest side of things as opposed to free speech. His encouragement of brevity is well taken but I don't feel needs to be a hard and fast rule. Same for the issue of local but again I do think that issues of state, national and world import certainly impact us locally and worthy of local discussion. I would think that a rule of 'first place given local' could be improved by the addition of 'any issue of vital public importance'.

I think the Souderton Independent should have two full pages dedicated to nothing but letters to the editor by ordinary citizens and pray that we don't lose it as an organ of free speech.