Editorials

2008 TPA Better Newspaper Contest

First Place D5

The Jack County Herald/Jacksboro Gazette-News

Enough is enough

It is time to say, "Enough is enough!"

In past months, the content of Letters to the Editor in the Jacksboro Gazette-News has festered into a wound that must be treated for community healing to have a chance. To say that some writers are beating a dead horse would be an understatement.

The Gazette has allowed writers to vent their grievances and air their views generally at will; however, the trend has become more a campaign to attack and smear individuals than to address the issues.

Jacksboro Newspapers has never been inclined to back away from contention. But when the mud becomes so deep, so personalized, so accusatory and so inflammatory, something must be done.

The Gazette has been frequently questioned about limiting the number of letters an individual can submit during a certain time-frame, but until recently has rejected that idea. After all, if readers object to a certain writer, they can skip over his or her correspondence.

We realize there are those subscribers whose first read in the Jacksboro Gazette-News is the Letters to the Editor section in order to find out the latest fight du jour. We apologize if they are offended by the revised policy we are about to lay down.

Thoughtful reflection convinces us it is in the best interest of everyone concerned to limit letters to the editor to a dialogue on issues and community activities. The published forum to demean any individual or drag anyone through the mud must end.

Henceforth, any letter submitted to the editor deemed derogatory or of a nature that is a personal vendetta against an individual will be rejected. Letter writers will have the option to revise their submissions; however, all deadlines will be strictly enforced.

For those who might argue that we have chosen censorship over what they call freedom of speech, we must note there is a vast difference between censorship and declining to sanction the liberties this license has taken. We prefer the higher road of personal respect and healing.

As for the number of letters a writer may submit, the option to implement a different policy remains under review.