Editor must fulfil dual role in Community
Facing the top of a blank page can be very intimidating.
You've seen it in countless movie scenes. Perhaps you've faced your own blank piece of paper when composing a difficult letter, or beginning an essay or work project.
But that's what the Editor of a community newspaper faces each and every week. And not just a single blank page, but dozens of them.
And so it is, as Publisher of The Osoyoos Times, that I find myself welcoming Lawrence McMahen as our new Editor and charge him with finding the right mix of facts and insight to satisfy our weekly readers. A formidable task indeed!
Not only is there a whole new community for him to learn about and experience, but there is the serious challenge of dealing with that community with even-handedness and open-mindedness.
They say everyone is entitled to their own opinion. An Editor, however, needs to have an opinion, and is asked to hang that opinion out each and every week for the entire community to agree or take offence with as they see fit. As an Editor you're not only entitled to your own opinion; it's demanded of you!rnEditors become public figures “ sometimes reluctant celebrities. They are held by their peers to be among the leaders of a community and are counted on for wisdom and insight even where there is little to be found.
Like the wise old owl in the Osoyoos Times logo, and like the messenger owls of J.K. Rowling's imagination, an Editor fills the dual role of delivering the news while also being asked to discern the important from the trivial and the truth from the sham.
We very much look forward to Mr. McMahen having the fresh eyes of a newcomer and the wise eyes of a seasoned journalist. He will be asked to weigh in with his opinion on many complex, difficult and contentious issues. He will make new friends and he will just as certainly make new enemies. That comes with the territory. I can assure you he is a good listener with a keen interest in the subject matter. He comes to us with a strong commitment to filling his new professional role and to becoming a part of the Osoyoos Community.
Welcome Editor ¦ and the best of luck!rn Chris Stodola, Publisherrn The Osoyoos Times
