4A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • MARCH 27, 2019
The First Amendment
O PINION
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their
Government for a redress of greivences.
Letters to the Editor Policy
Th e Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of
a community discussion of issues on the local, state
and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed
letters must be signed. All letters need to include full
name, address and phone number; only name and
city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about
300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not
guaranteed and depends on space available and the
volume of letters received.
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Letters containing poetry or from outside Th e
Sentinel readership area will only be published at the
discretion of the editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Preventing suicide is a collaborative eff ort
In 2018, more than 800
people in Oregon killed
themselves. And while sui-
cide is the second leading
cause of death among our
young people (ages 10-24),
Oregon’s highest rate of sui-
cide is actually among men
age 85 and older.
Bottom line? Suicide is
a problem that cuts a large
swath through our youngest
and brightest to oldest and
wisest. It isn’t limited to a
particular set of circumstanc-
es, fi nancial status, blue col-
lar or white collar, urban or
rural, male or female.
Th ere is, however, one
common thread that runs
through the sad and growing
tapestry woven by victims of
suicide: It’s the fact that we
rarely talk about it.
While we champion and
openly support those bat-
tling life-threatening diseases
whose physical impacts are
apparent to the eye, we strug-
gle to discuss the less appar-
ent yet equally life-threaten-
ing battle that many face each
day living in the shadow of
depression, despair, personal
loss, bullying, drug addiction
and psychosis.
Th at’s because talking
about feelings of suicide is
taboo. It’s associated with be-
ing weak, overly dramatic or
simply isn’t taken seriously.
It’s not acceptable to discuss
it openly and, as a result, peo-
ple oft en suff er with thoughts
of suicide silently — planning
death without anyone ever
knowing until it’s too late.
Over the years, the media
has played its own role in
perpetuating those notions
by not reporting on suicides
except in rare circumstanc-
es, such involving a public
offi cial or suicide within a
public place. Th e thought has
been that reporting on sui-
nonprofi t Line for Life.
But we’ve decided to do
something more.
In a one-of-a-kind collab-
orative, we are teaming up
with three other newsrooms
within our region — Newport
News-Times, Sisulaw News
and Th e Creswell Chronicle —
in an eff ort to combine our
resources in covering four
specifi c areas on the topic of
suicide.
Th e idea behind this spe-
cial collaboration is simple:
From the Managing Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
cides can create a “contagion
eff ect,” as well as cause addi-
tional trauma to surviving
family members.
Good reasons to be sure,
except that current research
indicates that thoughtful
reporting can actually help
prevent suicides by creating
an atmosphere supportive of
the kind of dialogue needed
to end suicide’s deafening si-
lence.
During the week of April
7-14, all Oregon newsrooms
have been invited to join in
covering this issue through
a statewide reporting project
called Breaking the Silence:
Shining a Light on Oregon’s
Suicide Crisis. During that
week, media outlets through-
out Oregon will be contribut-
ing stories, data and insights
to this project, which will be
shared and made available
through the Portland-based
As smaller community news-
papers, we can accomplish
more together than we could
ever hope to accomplish
alone. Not just in terms of the
scope of our reporting but
also in the number of readers
who can benefi t from that re-
porting.
Sometimes the competi-
tiveness of journalism should
take a back seat to the true
purpose of journalism: To
inform, educate and inspire
thoughtful discussion.
To that end, each Wednes-
day in April, our newsrooms
will each contribute a diff er-
ent piece that will be shared
among the four community
newspapers in our collabora-
tion for that week. Topics will
include:
• April 3: Suicide among
school-aged children and
teens (Contributed by Th e
Cottage Grove Sentinel)
• April 10: Suicides among
the homelessness and men-
tally ill (Contributed by the
Newport News-Times)
• April 17: Suicide among
senior citizens and veterans
(Contributed by the Siuslaw
News)
• April 24: Th ose left be-
hind: Parents, children and
spouses of suicide victims
(Contributed by Th e Creswell
Chronicle)
Experts say the best way to
prevent suicide is by being
aware of the warning signs
and encouraging someone
we suspect might be contem-
plating suicide to talk about
it. And contrary to past prac-
tices within the media, stud-
ies show that people do not
start thinking about suicide
just because someone asks
them about it.
Our hope is that this
unique collaboration will
send a diff erent message than
we have in the past, opening
a discussion within each of
our communities that will
turn the perpetual silence
of suicide into the sound of
hopeful and helpful dialogue.
—Ned Hickson, editor at
Siuslaw News and
Cottage Grove Sentinel
—Bret Yager, managing editor
at Newport News-Times
—Erin Tierney, editor at
Th e Creswell Chronicle
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure
any information about a candidate is accurate, fair
and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay;
and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates
based on personal experience and perspective rather
than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the
editor column to outline their views and platforms
or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political
advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
C ottage G rove
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