Regular Examiner readers will have noticed the paper is different from usual - especially on the front page.
We’ve decided to campaign to try to stop the education cuts to nurseries and libraries and we’ve put it on page one.
There are editorial opinion columns every week in both the Manx Independent and the Isle of Man Examiner. We give a view about something in the news. Almost all papers do that.
However, it’s the first time we’ve run our comment column on page one of the paper since I’ve been editor.
We thought we should take a stand on this issue.
It is clearly marked ‘comment’ in a big red box. We’re not duping anyone. This is a point of view, not a news story. We couldn’t be more explicit.
I see this has caused a bit of a fuss on the online story promoting it. Geoff - Douglas tells us that a newspaper’s role is to report news, not create it.
Well, usually it is. But by no means always.
Campaigning has always been a part of newspaper tradition. Recently, The Times in the UK ran a number of stories in campaign for more safety routes for cyclists on the front page.
A few years ago, the (UK) Independent used its front pages as part of its campaign to legalise cannabis.
The News of the World argued for ‘Sarah’s Law’ on its front page many times. The Daily Mail campaigned for justice for Stephen Lawrence. The Daily Express uses its front page to back its campaign for the UK to leave the EU on the days that it can’t think of anything to say about Princess Diana, Madeleine McCann, house prices or the weather.
In the nineteenth century the Isle of Man Times and the Mona’s Herald used their editorial pages to press for electoral reform in the House of Keys. That was all comment rather than ‘news’ - and it all makes for good reading and stimulating debate.
As for the stories inside, we give Mr Karran a good, unbiased, crack of the whip and explain the situation as it has unfolded so far.
Of course, there has been opposition from unions, the Mothers’ Union and some members of the public who reporter Lisa Lewis interviewed in the street. All that coverage has gone into the mix.
We’ll be in Tynwald tomorrow to report all the news stories from the court in our usual unbiased fashion.
Anyway, the tin-hatters who usually accuse us of being in the pocket of the government will see the front page and have to rethink their theories. My betting is that they will probably now say that it’s some sort of evil vendetta against Peter Karran.
