Check out what’s on people’s minds today
Read points of view from syndicated columnists and your friends and neighbors on today’s Opinion page.
A few years back, this publication began offering a feature on our opinion pages called Sound Off, where readers were given an opportunity to call in with their thoughts on the issues of the day. People have been able to do it anonymously, as we only published the comments, although anonymity has never been guaranteed, since we have a log that displays the numbers of incoming calls. The Sound Offs you see in today’s edition will be the final ones we publish. I believe you deserve an explanation why. Yes, I wrote a column in February 2016 defending our continued use of Sound Off, but a lot has changed to spark this reversal. Although I continue to believe people have every right to express their opinions — no matter what they are — and have a forum to do so, the tone of the local, state and national conversation has taken on a nastier tone than we’ve seen in a long time. People are no longer interested in talking about an issue; instead, discussion has deteriorated to a point where too many folks seem content to simply out-shout and outinsult the other person. And there doesn’t seem to be anything that’s off-limits. Let’s not forget, during last year’s primary for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, an entire segment of one of the debates focused on the president’s hand size as it relates to what’s between his legs. That has to go down as one of the most childish and disgusting moments ever in American politics. We want our readers to be able to express themselves and share their thoughts, but with civility. We don’t want The Saratogian and The Record to be complicit in a coarsening of public discourse that anonymity seems to encourage. We’ve also had to deal with a bit of nicompoopery from area politicos, who have decided to use the anonymous nature of Sound Off to besmirch political foes. It happened not too long ago in Troy, and we’ve had evidence in the past of Saratoga Springs City Hall people using it during local election season to attack City Council candidates.
We don’t have the resources to constantly check every single call that comes in, and I cannot allow our publications be used for political mischief. I’m a firm believer that if something can’t be properly managed, it’s better to do away with it.
This doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from readers. In fact, there are more ways to share your thoughts on the issues of the day. We post links to stories several times a day on Twitter and Facebook which are open to public comment, and some of those generate a ton of comment. You can even post your thoughts directly to stories we have on our websites.
The most old-school way to do it is through a letter to the editor.
We don’t get nearly as many letters as we have in years past, and I’d like to get more.
Since we’re living in the digital age, it’s way easier to do so. If you’re reading this in The Saratogian, you can email your letter to letters@ saratogian.com.
For Record readers, e-mail them to letters@troyrecord.com.
E-mail is the preferred method since we don’t have the horses to type in handwritten letters, although we still accept submissions through traditional mail.
All we ask is that you keep letters to around 400 words — which is a lot more than you would get to say in a 30-second Sound Off call — and provide a name, the community you’re from and a phone number for verification purposes or if we have a question.
We want our readers exercising their right to free speech, but it’s time people start putting a name to their opinions.