Opinion
4A
Saturday, July 3, 2021
OUR VIEW
The great
experiment
endures
W
ith the Fourth of July holiday
looming, it is often easy to
forget just how close the whole
American independence eff ort
came to failure.
We often sort of take it for granted that,
as Americans, pretty much everything we’ve
accomplished in our storied history as a nation
was foreordained.
That is a nice thought, but not exactly accurate.
For example, it took the 13 colonies seven
years to fi nally emerge victorious from Great
Britain and secure the chance to execute the great
experiment we call democracy. On the way to
that victory there occurred many missteps and
defeats.
Sunday’s holiday — the offi cial observance of
the actions of the Second Continental Congress
on July 4, 1776 — marks in many ways a brief
period of respite for the nation. There remains
little doubt the nation as it stands in 2021 is sad-
dled with an array of diffi cult and contentious
issues. Yet, the Fourth of July bestows upon all of
us a moment to refl ect on the fact that the great
test of democracy, fashioned by the Founding
Fathers, endures.
We still conduct free elections; America still
transfers political power in a peaceful manner.
We have challenges — many of them very
serious with long-term implications — yet our
experiment sustains, and often reinvents itself,
constantly.
Revamped and expanded
product aims to get you to ‘Go’
With the specter of COVID-19 restrictions
seemingly in the rearview mirror, this weekend’s
ANDREW
CUTLER
holiday should be about many things — family
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
and fun to name just two — but it should also be
a moment, a time, to remember that despite all
of the nation’s perceived fl aws, we are a democ-
racy still going strong more than 200 years after a
group of brave future Americans decided to risk
it all for liberty.
Have a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
LETTERS
• The Observer welcomes letters
to the editor. We edit letters for
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Like letters to the editor, columns
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S
tarting in July, EO Media
Group is launching Go! Maga-
zine, a regional weekly arts and
entertainment publication designed
to do exactly what it says — get
readers to “go” out and experience
all of what Eastern Oregon has to
off er. For readers in Union, Baker,
Umatilla and Morrow counties, Go!
will be in your Thursday newspaper.
For readers in Wallowa and Grant
counties, you will receive the maga-
zine every Wednesday.
Go! is designed to be a solid plat-
form to connect our readers to more
diverse — and, we hope, interesting
— ways to enjoy their neighboring
counties as well as their own. The
magazine features a variety of things
to do and places to go, when and in
what town, with a calendar of event
dates and times for a host of enter-
tainment venues throughout the
region. The accompanying website,
goeasternoregon.com, will off er a
mobile-friendly digital version of the
magazine and calendar to take with
you as you explore Eastern Oregon
again. After more than a year of
staying home, we are all ready to hit
the sidewalks and roads and start
taking art classes, viewing exhibits,
experiencing live theater and music,
and celebrating at regional festivals,
rodeos and other events.
Ultimately, what we do — all we
do — is centered on our readers.
As part of our mission to more effi -
ciently provide quality products
by working on joint projects such
as Northeast Oregon Artisans and
AgriBusiness, the six papers that
make up EO Media Group’s eastside
publications are launching Go! Mag-
azine as another shared venture for
those who read and use our papers.
Observer and Baker City Herald
readers are familiar with Go! since
it has been a staple of those papers
for more than a decade. Now, our
six eastside papers — The Observer,
Baker City Herald, East Oregonian,
Wallowa County Chieftain, Blue
Mountain Eagle, and Hermiston
Herald — are combining resources
to expand the reach of the magazine.
That kind of reach is something
we take some pride in. Eastern
Oregon is a big chunk of real estate.
But we have managed to provide a
comprehensive news package at our
newspapers on a consistent basis
for a long time. We are proud of the
fact that we furnish our readers with
complete coverage in a remote but
lively part of our great state.
Joint publications among our
newspapers is a way to “work
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smarter,” and the payoff is that
our readers gain a wealth of new
information.
I am especially pleased that we
will be giving you, the reader, more
resources and inspiration to go, to
get out and experience places and
events that are part of our common
heritage.
Expanding the reach of Go! Mag-
azine wouldn’t be possible if we
didn’t have someone to be a “cham-
pion” for the product, someone to
see it through from beginning to
end week after week. For us, that
someone is Lisa Britton, who is
based at the Baker City Herald and
can be reached by phone (541-406-
5274) or by email (lbritton@bak-
ercityherald.com). If you have an
event that you’d like to let readers
know about, she is the person to con-
tact. We need information at least a
week in advance of publication, so
the sooner you can submit an event,
the better. We welcome news about
concerts, art shows, festivals, com-
munity events, museum exhibits and
more.
———
Andrew Cutler is the interim
editor of The Observer and the
regional editorial director for the
EO Media Group, overseeing the
La Grande Observer, East Orego-
nian and four more newspapers in
Eastern Oregon.
Anindependent newspaper foundedin1896
www.lagrandeobserver.com
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Regional publisher. ...................... Karrine Brogoitti
Multimedia journalist.........................Alex Wittwer
Regional circulation director .................. Kelli Craft
Home delivery advisor ............... Amanda Fredrick
Interim editor ....................................Andrew Cutler
Advertising representative ...........Juli Bloodgood
News clerk ........................................Lisa Lester Kelly
Advertising representative .................... Amy Horn
Reporter....................................................Dick Mason
National accounts coordinator ...... Devi Mathson
Reporter............................................Davis Carbaugh
Graphic design .................................. Dorothy Kautz
Intern ...................................................Carlos Fuentes
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