Editor’s Notes

Newspapers, like grocery stores, offer many things to many consumers.

But most newspapers — this one included — have three main parts: news, advertising and opinion or commentary.

News content is written by reporters.

Advertising is content paid for by businesses or other private parties — advertisers who pay to have their message printed in the form of ads.

Opinion or commentary comes from a variety of places, but is limited to this page only.

Many of the opinions found here come in the form of letters to the editor, which provide readers an opportunity to express an opinion.

Newspapers traditionally accept letters that provide an opinion about the state of local affairs, actions of local government or other topics that might reflect the opinion of community members.

Some of the most famous letters you may have heard of include a series published in the New-England Courant, from an author known as Mrs. Silence Dogood, aka Benjamin Franklin.

His letters centered on a variety of topics, but all were relevant to issues in his community.

Another famous letter you may have heard of came from an 8-year-old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon. She wrote to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897.

“DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

“Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’

“Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?”

The response to her letter, “Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus,” has become the most republished letter and editorial in the history of journalism.

Here at The Robesonian, we receive letters regularly and we publish nearly every letter we receive. Below is a list of writers who submitted letters in the recent past:

Sen. Danny Britt

Scott Bigelow

Alvin Blake

Margaret Crites

Krista Early

John Graves

Renee Hammonds

Eva Patterson Heath

Tate Johnson

Eric R. Locklear

Gary Locklear

Charles Kemp

Doug McBroom

Richard H. Monroe

D. Michael Roberts

Helen Roberts

William Smith

Joseph Gerard Weindel

Michael Whatley

As the editor in “letters to the editor,” I look forward to reading letters from our readers.

David Kennard is the executive editor of The Robesonian. Contact him at [email protected].