By BARRY LOCHER
Published Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Dear Readers:
"Dump Coulter, Keep Coulter" - the debate has been spirited, to say the least, not just here in Springfield but around the country.
Through Letters to the Editor, phone calls, online comments and an unscientific online poll, hundreds of you have weighed in on whether or not our newspaper should continue to carry Ann Coulter's column. Though the comment that precipitated the latest outrage directed at Coulter had nothing to do with anything she wrote, it nevertheless has fueled yet another round of interest in her work syndicated through Universal Press Syndicate to approximately 100 newspapers around the country.
"If you dump Coulter, you have an obligation to dump (Ted) Rall," say many of you. "Mean-spirited, factually inaccurate, insulting, offensive, hateful, racist," say others. "I don't want any of my money going to pay her salary," some have said. (The State Journal-Register pays $8.65 per week for the column.) "If you dump Coulter I'll cancel my subscription," and from the other side, "if you don't dump Rall I'll cancel my subscription."
And so it goes, all valid arguments, heartfelt, passionate and honest. I have listened carefully and I have considered virtually every comment that has come in regarding Coulter. I have truly appreciated and valued the input. All of us who are responsible for the content that appears on the editorial and op-ed pages have been humbled and encouraged by the response shown when we solicited your thoughts.
That noted, this is one of those times when sitting in the editor's chair at a daily newspaper is exceptionally challenging, stimulating, and, yes, somewhat scary, knowing that the decision I make (however, not without the valued counsel of my colleagues on the editorial board) ultimately lands squarely upon my shoulders, and further knowing that my decision will anger at least half of you who took the time to let us know what you thought. It is my responsibility and I accept it as such. As I often tell some of my friends, "Some days can be better than others."
I've decided to keep Ann Coulter's column in The State Journal-Register. Here's why:
We have worked diligently over the past decade on a few of what I like to refer to as the fundamentals of journalism, those being principles of fairness, representation for all voices, balance in political views, balance of opinion, accuracy, accountability and credibility. We have worked hard to encourage local voices that some of you view as extreme, yet that I believe - while granted sometimes a bit caustic - have a right to be represented, especially through letters to the editor and through other, more lengthy essays, such as the "In My View" column published on Saturday. We have insisted that the editorial and op-ed pages remain open, free and available to citizens of central Illinois who take the time to put their views in writing - and to put their names on their work.
We have quadrupled the numbers of letters published, and while my research consists of gut instinct only, I believe we publish more letters from readers than perhaps any other newspaper in America. Have we sometimes gone too far in "allowing" writers to have their say on our pages? Maybe so. There can be an exceptionally delicate balance between community values, censorship, what's viewed as inflammatory and what isn't. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't acknowledge that I have many times second-guessed a decision I made regarding something we've published.
Ann Coulter's work is valued by virtually half of you who contacted us, and that's good enough for me. Because I publish her work, however, doesn't mean that I, or the newspaper, endorse any of the outrageous or otherwise loaded language sometimes evident in her work, nor in the work of any of the syndicated national columnists, our own letter writers or even our beloved Chris Britt. We must be careful not to blur the lines between what's presented as opinion and what is presented as fact.
While it is human nature to respect and admire those who share similar opinions while at the same time belittling those who do not, for a daily newspaper to be truly independent and relative to its readers it must allow and encourage vast ranges of views on its pages. While some of you may disagree, I am confident that you'll not find a newspaper in the country whose leadership respects this principle more than we do.
Henry Hyde, the former congressman from Illinois, said in 1991, "Free speech is meaningless unless it tolerates the speech that we hate." I think about that quote often when challenged by decisions such as that presented by the Coulter quandary. However, there is one equally important to me that my 89-year-old mother has often counseled, perhaps not as eloquently nor in as lofty a forum as Hyde, yet nevertheless with a great degree of substance: "It takes all kinds," she says, and as usual, I believe she is right.
Barry Locher is the editor of The State Journal-Register.