Welcome to the first edition of The Chatham Voice.
You’ve read our front-page story telling you why we’re here; let us tell you a bit about how we’re going to operate from an editorial standpoint.
We’re unapologetically pro-community. We intend to tell the stories of our friends and neighbours, celebrate our accomplishments and our way of life.
That doesn’t mean we intend to look the other way regarding the issues and challenges we face.
We know of no problem that gets better by ignoring it or pretending it doesn’t exist. Some may call that negativism, but we call it realism.
We believe in bringing forward the facts about the issues at hand. A better-informed public can provide community leaders with better direction.
An old adage states that it is the job of newspapers to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. That may be extreme, but we will provide a voice to those in the community who otherwise may go unheard.
We believe good ideas can come from anywhere. Excluding anyone due to race, economic status, or political or religious beliefs isn’t just discriminatory, but also the opposite of intelligent.
If you’re looking for a political stripe here, you won’t find it.
As a rule, if your party or candidate holds power, they can expect more attention than those who don’t. The reason is simple; they wanted the job, they got the job and now they have to be held accountable for doing the job.
That goes for us as well – if you find an error of fact or you disagree with something we’ve said, let us know.
We will attack the issues, not the individual. And if a person in power has a string of successes, he or she will be heralded for it. If they or their party are consistently off the mark, then it’s time to question their decision-making abilities.
Jim Blake Bruce Corcoran
