To the editors:
I rise to the defense of the editors. An opinion published Feb. 2 states: “If a letter to the editor is not factual, I think the paper has an obligation to point it out to the writer and redact it, so the falsehood won’t be perpetuated.” One person’s “fact” is another person’s “lie.” Just whose facts does the opinion-writer suggest the editor publish and whose censured.
I observe the editors have published many opinions over the years I’m sure they disagreed with personally. For this, I believe they deserve our thanks and appreciation.
I hope the editors, in this new era of intolerance, will resist any pressure to censure unpopular opinions. Of course, newspaper editors should keep their news sections factually correct to the best of their ability and without bias. However, the letters column is a valuable service newspapers offer their community for individuals, as imperfect as they may be, to express personal opinions, factually correct or not. Let the community be the judge, not any “Ministry of Truth.”
We see the recent, unfortunate, successes in California, at Davis and Berkeley, to shut down free speech through violence. In 2016, a bill (SB1161) was proposed in California to criminalize any expression by a business of disagreement with “climate change” dogma. Suppression of free speech is the precursor to a loss of liberty that might never be recovered and should be opposed with our last breath.
Ross Wilkinson
Wilton