Speaking Up: When and how it is appropriate

Sometimes in the course of covering the news, you as a Christian journalist will encounter a situation that is so wrong, you can't help but speak up. You most likely will be able to do this in a news story. But sometimes a local controversial issue will get so out of hand, that you find yourself needing to use your column to either calm the waters or remind parties of the "rules" of fair play.

I found myself in this situation once when I was the editor of a local newspaper. The local wildlife refuge had been contacting area property owners, letting them know that they could receive a tax break on any land they put into a government conservation program. The property owners saw this as a veiled threat to their property, and thus began a heated argument in the editorial section of my newspaper. I provided fair coverage, explaining each side of the issue, and then let them "duke it out" in letters to the editor.

The wildlife refuge director wrote one letter to the editor to explain that this was a voluntary program. The property owners formed an organization, and its members sent one letter to the editor after another lambasting the refuge and the federal government. The letters from the property owners got so heated, that I had to edit many of them for vulgarity and libel.

Finally, I'd had enough. I wrote a column one week to put a stop to it. I started by indicating that I had no opinion in the matter. My husband's family were property owners in a different part of the county, so I could truly say in the column that I understood the property owner group's point of view. I could also understand the refuge's point of view and that this was a completely voluntary program.

After planting myself firmly on neutral ground, I went on to say that there had been a lot of mud-slinging in the editorial pages of our paper recently, but the mud seemed to be flying in one direction. I put it right out there to the public that the letters to the editor from the property owners had to be edited for vulgarity and libel; while the refuge, other than the first letter, had remained silent no matter what the property owners had thrown at them in print.

I ended by saying that we will always welcome letters to the editor, but we need to "keep it above the belt."

I sent the paper to press, and then sat back and waited for the phone calls. The refuge director was the first to call.

"The column made my wife cry," he said. "You can't imagine the stress we've been under. Thank you so much."

The next call I received was from the director of the property owners' group. I expected yelling; what I got was a calm, controlled voice saying, "Could you please tell me which letters you are talking about that were a problem?"

I read some of the original versions to him over the phone, and we came to an agreement. He would talk to the group members and tell them to clean up their communication, and I would add to any letter not specifically from him a disclaimer that the letter does not represent the opinions of the group.

I wouldn't suggest doing something like this except as a last resort (I've only done it once in my career). But if you do elect to do a public reprimand, be sure to

1. Put yourself on neutral ground first,
2. Address only the part of the issue that is a problem, and
3. Let people know that you still welcome their opinions.