The Newsroom

I fielded a call today from someone upset about The Sun's decision to publish an op-ed piece by Gil Navarro that was critical of retired San Bernardino County schools superintendent Herb Fischer. Full disclosure: I have a great deal of respect for Fischer, and wrestled with whether to print the piece, a big part of which I felt was unfounded.
At the end of the day, however, I fell back on what I feel is a foundation of newspapers - the responsibility to air unpopular opinions. Over the years, few have been as unpopular as Navarro's, a community activist and member of the county school board, to the point where some of discussed banning him from speaking at local school board meetings. And yet, the fact that he is a member of the board, an elected position, entitles you - not him but you - to hear or read what he has to say.
There's an important distinction there. We don't owe Gil Navarro or any other elected person a venue. But we do feel a need to inform you of what they're saying and doing, and if it means publishing an op-ed piece we disagree with, so be it.
As with anything else, there are limits to this. As best we can, we try to at least point out misstatements of fact - if not edit them out. Even so, we're talking shades of gray; one person's fact is another's opinion.
Hopefully out of this, the truth emerges.