To the Editor – Saturday’s letter to the editor encouraging YHR to give talented and thoughtful local writers the space to write more syllables each month seems like a brilliant idea to me.
It’s not a radical idea. A number of local dailies are adopting a business and journalistic model that invites ‘citizen columnists’ or ‘community columnists’ to share their views or expertise on local issues. The model is helping to bring local newspapers back into the town square at a time when many – if not most – have been relegated to the fringes of local discourse.
Please think about it seriously. Invite writers from diverse backgrounds and political viewpoints to write about what’s on their mind while observing the Yakima Valley. Yes, some author guides may occasionally indulge in boosterism and pomp. But many will give us an enlightened discussion of issues we need to address.
YHR editors know how to avoid citizen columnists who would simply parrot the cliches of our current partisan echo chambers. (I’m sorry for recklessly eliminating most of our locally elected officials.)
Yakima can become a vibrant and healthy community again. If you don’t understand that we’ve lost this, you need these new columnists, and fast.
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