Opinion: We're making changes to the Independent Mail opinion page

The public square for commentary and opinion has become vastly different in the past 10 years.

Local newspapers used to be the focal point for local commentary on topics of interest in the community. However, in the past decade, we’ve seen the volume of local opinion content diminish dramatically at the Independent Mail.

There simply are too many other options for people to share their commentary.

That evolution in opinion sharing has meant that our opinion page has become much less local.

More than 90 percent of the columns we share on the Independent Mail opinion page are from national columnists. And in our polarized political environment, the majority of the feedback we get about those columns – on both sides – expresses frustration that our pages lack ideological fairness.

Further, the bulk of that commentary is related to issues that are not local and that won’t be resolved here in Anderson.

All of this has led to a difficult decision

Today is the last day we will publish an opinion page in the Anderson Independent Mail print edition. (We will publish next week any letters and relevant columns we receive by Tuesday that are related to the June 14 primary elections.)

We understand this is a significant change. But it does not mean your opinions are not welcome.

We still will do our best to publish constructive, meaningful opinion columns from leaders in our community. We’ll do that on our digital platforms first, but also in print editions, clearly labeled as opinion. If we receive a large number of letters on an important local topic, we’ll share those online as well.

And come election season, we’ll set aside space to publish your letters in support of local candidates, and columns by candidates that outline their positions on issues related to the office they are seeking. The emphasis will be on on constructive and positive discussion of local and state issues.

We know this is a dramatic shift. We labored over the decision on when and how to implement this change. But simply publishing national columns on national issues is not serving the public’s need for more news on local issues, especially in a small community like Anderson.

There are good things ahead for the Independent Mail. We’re working hard to provide more Anderson-centered news for this community. And with your help, this can be a strong local news source for Anderson. Remember, the best way to support our work is to buy a subscription. And here’s some good news: through June 1, you can get a digital subscription to the Independent Mail for just $9.99 for the first year.

Steve Bruss is executive editor of the Independent Mail. He is currently reading "The Lincoln Highway," by Amor Towles and "Every Good Endeavor," by Timothy Keller. You can reach him at sbruss@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Independent Mail will end print opinion page on May 29