EDITOR'S CHAIR

When I took over as editor of the Shelton-Mason County Journal in the second half of 2020, it wasn't a role I'd ever had before.

Nearly all of my journalism career had been spent as a sports reporter and page designer, and I'm not sure I ever saw myself taking over the top job in a newsroom.

When the position opened that year, I decided that if I was ever going to take a shot at it, it was the time and place to do it.

I was fortunate to have a supportive owner in Tom Mullen and publisher in John Lester.

They offered support and guidance when needed, but also backed off and allowed me to grow into the role on the company dime. I made plenty of mistakes, especially early on, but learning those lessons - sometimes the hard way - has helped me become a better editor than I expected to be.

One of the key areas where I feel like I had to make significant growth as editor was the Journal's opinion pages.

I'm not someone who enjoys putting his two cents out into the public sphere just to do it. There have been times when I've felt compelled to address something, but I've felt comfortable letting our editorial columnist, Kirk Ericson, take that leadoff spot with his "These Times" column and dip into his many years of experience to inform and entertain us.

Ericson has also spent many, many hours helping this green-around-the-edges editor learn how to navigate our Letters to the Editor section.

When I took over, owner Tom Mullen told me that people should always know what their neighbor is thinking. By that, he meant let people speak their piece.

And I've tried to take that to heart.

Our letters writers tend to be strong in their opinions. Yes, I know some of them can be downright offensive at times too. Others try to present lies or misleading and false information, often parroting something they heard or saw on the internet or TV.

The Journal doesn't fact-check every letter because we simply don't have the time and resources to do so, but also because we've tried to let people say what they want to say.

While I don't take this lightly, the time has come, however, to put some new guidelines into place regarding letter submissions.

Letters to the Editor should promote a respectful, civil dialogue in our community, focusing on local issues that affect us at the city, county and regional level. Great examples of this have been recent debates about Taylor Shellfish Company's oyster bag proposal in Oakland Bay and the Department of Natural Resources timber sales near Allyn. Bad examples are letters that only talk about President Joe Biden or ex-President Donald Trump.

The Journal is devoted to covering life in Mason County. That's what we do and what our readers expect to see when they pick up the paper.

Beginning with our June 8 edition, we're going to make the following changes to our letters policy:

■ Writers will be limited to one original letter per month, plus one rebuttal or counter-rebuttal. Rebuttal type letters need to directly address the previous letter in full and not attempt to introduce additional topics.

■ Letters are now limited to 300 words.

■ Letters will be edited for grammar, style and length. We reserve the right to reject any letter.

■ Priority will be given to local opinions and topics. Letters about national politics and opinions may run on a space-available basis.

■ Letters should be submitted by email, either directly in the body of the email or an attached Word document. Letters that are handwritten or typed letters may be submitted, but publication could be significantly delayed. All letters must include the writer's name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes.

Our goal with these changes isn't to discourage anyone from submitting a letter and sharing their opinion. On the contrary, we want to encourage more people to submit letters and to become better letter writers. The more people that are involved in a civil, respectful dialogue, the healthier our community will be.

Author Bio

Justin Johnson, Editor

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]