The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
They say everybody has an opinion, and I guess I'm no exception. This week marks the second anniversary of Local Angle. Since its launch back in 2005, this column (i.e. me) has garnered some criticism - mostly positive, but sometimes negative. Over the summer, I wrote a column challenging the validity of the Flin Flon grapevine. I was surprised by the number of people who told me how appreciative they were. This past spring, when I criticized Premier Gary Doer for granting Flin Flon $400,000 out of a pre-election northern spending spree worth over $47 million, I saw the flip side of the coin. One anonymous Doer supporter called to say that the entire community had stopped buying the paper because they were so disgusted! But it's all good. Any time you share your opinion, be it in an open forum like The Reminder or in casual conversation at the breakfast table, you open yourself up to critique. This column has certainly given me a newfound respect for big-time columnists, from Frances Russell on the left to Robert Novak on the right. To do this, you really have to stand by your convictions. You also can't be overly sensitive. I honestly like the fact that readers are willing to compliment me when they agree and offer opposing thoughts when they do not. The point of this or any other editorial column is not to build a consensus, but to present a certain viewpoint and, hopefully, contribute something to a debate. As one prominent reader once told me, "That's what the paper was missing." Looking back, I was initially hesitant to write an opinion column. I didn't want to be seen as taking sides on issues that I must also objectively cover as a reporter. But it's not out of left field for a journalist to wade into editorial waters. Newspapers do it all the time. Reporters are able to make a distinction between personal beliefs and objectivity. To be perfectly frank, when I write an article for any other page of this paper, my own views never cross my mind. My focus lay solely in getting the job done in a fair manner, which I hope I've been able to do. It's never pained me to give a voice to people with whom I disagree. If it did, I would be in the wrong business. In any event, I certainly don't claim my editorials are always right or that I'm so smart that I have all the answers. These columns are what they are - opinions for each reader to appraise. Local Angle runs Fridays.
