#MediaMonday – Republic nixes opinions

The recent layoffs at the Arizona Republic are also impacting the opinion pages, both print and online.  A recent Phoenix New Times blog post goes into some of the details. It seems that the community sections will no longer be accepting letters to the editor, opinion pieces and the popular My Turn columns.

I kind of understand why that might be the case in print.  But why eliminate from the online version, too?  After all, the Republic has been pushing its online subscription now for almost a year.  It seems a good business model to deliver content via the internet – for all the challenges of living in the digital world may bring, one thing is for certain and that’s the fact there is an infinite amount of space for information.

These community columns gave voice to a variety of different opinions.  We’ve had our fair share of My Turn column postings on behalf of clients and I’m sure my fellow public relations practitioners have as well.

Sure, you can still comment online or post your thoughts on Facebook, but that’s not the same.  Well-crafted, thoughtful opinion pieces deserve the chance to be “published.”

Please Arizona Republic, reconsider that decision (I would submit this to the paper, but there’s no way to do that now).