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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR | Opinion 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS#133880 Copyright 2019 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The 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. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Some thoughts for the upcoming National Newspaper Week (Oct. 6-12) O nce upon a time, hav- ing a job at a news- paper meant working in one of the most imposing buildings in town, inhaling the acrid aroma of fresh ink and the dusty breath of cheap newsprint and feeling mini-earthquakes under our feet every time the presses started to roll. For those of us old enough to remember those days, National Newspaper Week 2019 could be one big, fat elegiac nostalgia trip. Today, many news- papers are ditching the imposing buildings for low-rent storefronts. As University of North Car- olina professor Penny Ab- ernathy has documented in her ground-breaking research on the news de- sertification of America, upwards of 1,300 commu- nities that had newspapers of their own in 2004 now have none. So here, dear readers, are some facts you need to know: Newspapers are more than a medium Increasingly, for both younger and older readers, that low-grade paper with come-off-on-your-hands ink is being replaced by bits and bytes that light up your phone or tablet or computer. What can’t be replaced, however — and what should never be made ob- solete — is the primary function that newspapers have traditionally per- formed: Deploying report- ers, photographers and editors to find and pro- duce stories on everything from natural disasters to political scandals to your much information at our disposal. The same digital rev- olution that blew a hole in newsroom budgets and turned Craigslist and eBay into advertising be- hemoths also created new paths to publication. According to a 2018 sur- vey by the Pew Research Center, more Americans now get their news from Guest Viewpoint Kathy Kiely, University of Missouri School of Journalism neighbor’s golden wedding social media than from newspapers. anniversary. But not everyone who’s Why pay for ‘free’ news? That 25 or 35 cents you publishing via smartphone used to plunk into a news- and YouTube is a promis- paper box didn’t come ing writer or videographer close to covering what giving voice to under- it cost to produce what served communities. A lot newsroom denizens like to are peddlers of propagan- da, snake oil, disinforma- call “the daily miracle.” The high cost of public tion and dissension. Nor is social media as service journalism has al- ways been subsidized by free as it seems: We pay advertisers. by providing our personal So thank them by show- data every time we log on ing your support — in and, often, every time we their businesses and your make a purchase IRL (in subscription. real life). Social media sites that Social media use data to deliver in- is not free news Readers might not no- formation that’s likely to tice the hollowing out of keep you on their sites: A newsrooms because today, resident of Moberly, Mo., we have, if anything, too who shops at Cabela’s and is Facebook “friends” with Donald Trump supporters is likely to get a very differ- ent news feed on Facebook than one who lives in New York City, listens to NPR and “likes” Joe Biden’s Facebook page. I’m not arguing that we should turn off the inter- net and replace it with ink and paper. What I do think readers can do this National News- paper Week is become more mindful about their information diet — rather than nutrition-free news snacks we often consume each day. Supporting real news is a more expensive propo- sition for readers than it used to be, but it’s cheap when you consider what you’re really paying for. As my former Gannett News Service colleague, University of Kentucky journalism professor Al Cross put in a bumper sticker he had commis- sioned a couple years back, “Support democracy: Sub- scribe.” 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 HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives Oregon federal representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski • Rep. Peter DeFazio District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@ state.or.us (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • 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 • 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 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Kathy Kiely is the Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Veronica Brinkley, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1205 vbrinkley@cgsentinel.com Carla Summers, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Nick Snyder, Sports/Community News Reporter... Ext. 1204 nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... 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