Commentary: The Tribune: Your home for free speech; enter at your own risk

2020 was a dark and difficult year across our country and around the world.

Some of us lost our jobs

Some of us lost loved ones.

We are, however, comparatively fortunate. Our north central Idaho and southeastern Washington towns have, so far, avoided the most significant crises of over-capacity hospitals and wide-spread economic collapse.

And 2021 promises to be brighter. No doubt.

But some wounds and scars will be carried forward.

We understand half of the people in our country are smarting from the divisive and contested presidential election.

We also understand some continue to be critical of us, here at the Lewiston Tribune, for our full-throated view of the First Amendment, opting to publish political cartoons and opinions from the left and right, and Associated Press news stories that sometimes conflict with their worldviews.

We accept the challenge and welcome the critique. We’ll continue to be the first to admit our imperfections and search for improvement and change.

Nonetheless, our faith remains.

Our faith remains in being unapologetic defenders of your right to be heard, for your story to be told, and we vow to stand up for the tensions built into our U.S. Constitution.

Our faith remains in local journalism — and that you recognize the worth, even if you disagree, of an Opinion page with a robust exchange of ideas and neutral news pages.

Our faith remains in the idea that there’s more benefit than burden in our rare commitment to publish every letter to the editor for those who call this place home. That’s regardless of political stripe and, of course, includes every letter critical of us, and me, personally.

Our faith remains in you, our neighbors, and the strength and willingness of our communities to reason together and heal.

It’s our differences, regardless of how deep-rooted and fierce, that provide the spark that makes life interesting and might even move us to join the conversation or get involved.

We won’t get to where we need to go as a community without a well-intentioned free press pursuing the truth each day. And despite 2020’s economic challenges, we’ll continue to chase that truth, grounded in the solid stories of talented journalists who — just like you — live, work and play in our towns.

And we have faith that you see the value and courage of our commitment to preserving one of our nation’s last independent, local family- and employee-owned newspapers.

Today more than 1,200 daily newspapers are published in America. But only one in 10 remain independent. Most are controlled by distant corporate owners or hedge funds.

The Tribune is an exception.

We’re leaning into the realities of 2021 — staying focused and positive — and will be re-prioritizing our news coverage to align with the recently announced staff reductions and the elimination of Monday’s print edition.

We’re planning a news package in the coming months to unpack and explore the complexities of today’s world from your perspective. Our aim is to personalize the bundle of issues we all face, offer context and a build a deeper understanding to navigate these difficult times.

This package will include why we’re losing faith in our democratic institutions and why there is a crisis of trust in news and basic information. It’s a priority.

And we’re also planning some listening sessions with you to explore the complexities of our entangled world views, conflict and the growing division in our communities.

Many feel abandoned by the media. More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about bias in the news other people are getting, while less than a third said they worry about their own preferred sources being biased. That’s according to a report assembled by Gallup and the Knight Foundation in August.

The credibility of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the now surging conservative news networks Newsmax and One American News Network has never been lower. The source you trust most depends on your viewpoint.

And some local readers paint our Tribune with the same brush.

We hear regularly from readers across the political spectrum — increasingly so since the pandemic.

A left-leaning reader recently explained he was planning to cancel his subscription after 40 years because our “once-honorable and very high-quality newspaper …” published ideas and words he deemed objectionable by one of our conservative-minded Sunday columnists.

And from the right-leaning readers and critiques, I’ll bet you’ve seen the letters and combative social media posts.

I understand the critique, I do, especially from those who take exception with an isolated news story, editorial or political cartoon and aren’t regular readers.

The point: We’re criticized from both the left and right, which may perversely suggest we’re doing something right.

We could take the tack of some community newspapers and avoid publishing national headlines from Washington, D.C., and the White House that are likely to provoke negative comments and attacks. And we could carefully spike political cartoons and columnists we think may inflame readers, effectively sanitizing our news and Opinion pages.

That would run counter to the Tribune’s 129-year arc of defending the entire Bill of Rights — including the free exercise of religion and right to bear arms.

We support the notion of a free marketplace of ideas and the belief that acceptance of an idea or its test of the truth depends on its ability to compete with other ideas, not Google’s self-serving algorithmic curation. And if we were to censor some ideas, and not others, we’d be failing you.

As we head into 2021, we’ll keep at it.

We’ll stay up late to let you know what happened at the city council meeting, the basketball court or football field, the school board meeting, the Statehouse, or interesting happenings — good and bad — in the far reaches of our eight-county delivery area. Our photographers will continue to capture the beauty and art of living in our region.

We’ll be mindful of the positives, stay strong under fire and recognize we have more in common than differences. We’ll continue to recognize and celebrate your good deeds, and those of your neighbor.

Let’s all build on our many positives: Lewiston’s magnificent new high school campus and its A. Neil DeAtley Career Technical Center; the recent unveiling of the neighboring Lewis-Clark State College Schweitzer CTE Center; and our pandemic-resistant industries at Clearwater Paper, Idaho Forest Group, Vista Outdoors, Seekins Precision, Schweitzer Engineer Laboratories and others.

Of course, the COVID-19 vaccines and anticipated recovery are underway, and we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in without the sacrifice and service of our region’s frontline health workers, emergency personnel and police officers.

And my personal favorite — the historic voter turnout in November’s general election. It proves we’re all invested and engaged in our democracy.

Despite the division, disagreement and even anger, more people are paying attention to Congress, the courts, the White House, public policy and science than in recent history. That’s a positive. We are indifferent no longer.

The pendulum of our 243-year-old democracy is certainly banging against the sidewalls of the grandfather clock. It may be frustratingly loud, and even uncomfortable to watch. These are unprecedented times, but they are our times.

Hang in there. And together we will look back and recognize that despite all of the outcry, vitriol and tension, we held fast to our fundamental rights and kept up the chase of a more perfect union — all while keeping the faith in each other.

Alford is editor and publisher of the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contact at [email protected] or (208) 848-2208.