Yes, you'll see Paul Greenberg and John Brummett. And yes, you'll see Brenda Blagg and Gary Smith.
As you can see, you'll even get a dash of Harton in these pages.
With today's launch of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, we're asking readers to give us a chance to serve Northwest Arkansas a little differently, but always striving to meet your news and information needs. Every reader has a right to be skeptical. I appreciate how much our readers value the news, opinion and other information the newspapers of Northwest Arkansas have delivered through the years.
If our region knows anything, it's change. And if I know anything about our region, it's that its people adapt to change quite well.
Readers, starting today, will see change throughout the newspaper, in some ways small and in others big. I wanted to spend a couple of minutes talking about the editorial pages.
The page you're on right now is our editorial page. Facing it is the Voices Page. As with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that serves much of Arkansas, these two pages will appear daily. Here in Northwest Arkansas, however, we'll be sure these pages reflect perspectives on issues of importance to readers right in in our corner of the world.
Readers will see editorial perspectives of our editorial board, made up of members of our staff who live in Washington and Benton counties. You'll also see editorials originating from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's editorial staff on important state, national or international issues our readers care about.
As for columnists, readers will see a mix of longtime local columnists along with the perspectives of people like Brummett and Greenberg. It's going to be a great mix of voices in one location.
Now, our approach to letters to the editor may prove a little perplexing at first, but at the root of it is a deep appreciation for the perspectives of our readers. Letters on facing Voices Page are selected and edited in Little Rock. When they appear on that page, they're selected because of their potential interest across the state. Just across from my column you'll see seven letters -- four of which happen to be from Northwest Arkansas writers. Others are from Little Rock, Hot Springs Village and Haskell. Those are being published to a statewide audience.
On this page, you'll see local letters to the editor. That means they're from local people on all sorts of issues, or from anyone who has a perspective on a specifically local matter. For example, the Voices Page is less likely to be interested in publishing a letter about code enforcement in Springdale or city government in Tontitown, or a county courts facility in Bentonville or how Rogers' downtown is revitalized. Letter writers can submit to either place, depending on whether they believe their thoughts are relevant to statewide readers or more specific to local readers.
People who want to write letters to the editor for publication in Northwest Arkansas can use a form at http://www.nwadg.com/submit/letter works; a letter can be sent to [email protected] or mailed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, AR 72765.
In short, part of my job will be making sure the readers of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette get a great mix of local and regional views, plus perspective on statewide, national and international issues of importance.
It will take a little getting used to. But readers who like strong opinion pages with a variety of voices will, I think, be pleased with the results.
As always, we love reader feedback because it helps to guide us as we make the daily decisions needed to produce a newspaper seven days a week. Give us a few weeks to work out any kinks in our new newspaper for Northwest Arkansas, then let us know any ideas or thoughts you have for the future.
GREG HARTON IS EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR. EMAIL HIM AT [email protected] OR CALL 479-872-5026.
Commentary on 01/12/2015