To the Editor:

North Country Now is a valuable resource for covering news in our community. But the “Letters to the Editor” section, which serves as a forum for editorial comments on North Country affairs and our world, sometimes takes a different turn. And it’s a petty, mean-spirited one when the sole purpose of a letter is to attack a fellow citizen.

People are free to say whatever they like. But just because the First Amendment states that Congress may not abridge ones’ freedom of speech doesn’t mean that people and newspapers can’t apply a filter of reasonability and civility. I, along with others, obviously don’t like being personally attacked. But that isn’t the point.

The point is that we depend on our newspapers to responsibly and constructively report information and broaden our viewpoints in a way that keeps avenues of productive discourse open. Part of the democratic process is to evaluate and critique our political candidates. We often arrive at different conclusions. However, personally attacking a community member because they hold a different viewpoint need not be part of the process.

It’s bad enough that Republican politicians will attack anyone, including their own party members, if someone dares to have a different opinion. Let’s not have fellow citizens doing the same thing and newspapers enabling them. When it’s obvious that an author of a “Letters to the Editor” is ranting and raving to denigrate a community member, I think NCN should reject such letters.

It's not censorship, cancel culture or whatever right-wing media’s Hype/Gripe-Of-The-Day is. It would be NCN applying prudent moderation in order to promote civility in our communities.

Martha Hodges
Massena