By Ann Young Gregory
First published February, 1974
“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax –
Of cabbages and kings –”
The three of us who became the new publishers of the Clinch Valley Times last Friday thought that Times readers would like to know what sort of editorial policy we intend to follow, and so we chose a few lines from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass which express that intent. We have adopted the first two lines of the verse, which appears above, as our slogan. Simply stated, our policy will be “to talk of many things”.
For instance, the Times will print not only straight news stories, but also will offer in-depth examinations of issues. Its editorial page will always be available for reader comment on issues confronting the community, the county, the state and the country. We do not feel, however, that a newspaper should be used as a public forum for anything other than readers’ comments on issues and events of general public interest.
We are eager to present interesting area people, events and history through feature stories, and will always welcome suggestions for features.
Coverage of area sports will be inhibited only by the principle that several people can be only several places at once, so we hope there’s not too much overlapping scheduling.
We plan to print social news from throughout our area, and will always be pleased to include news about your club, church and organizations as well as personal news items.
This column, which will appear regularly, will deal editorially with a variety of topics, and will not be limited to subjects somber and serious.
The Stewarts have set a fine precedent for us through their extensive use of photographs in the Times, and we will follow their lead.
Generally speaking, a weekly newspaper such as this one has two goals, and we readily acknowledge them. We will, therefore, strive to provide the highest type of news reporting and public service and the best possible advertising medium to our readers and advertisers.
We cannot close this first editorial without publicly acknowledging the great contribution that Gladys and Eugene Stewart have made to the area in the past 14 years. When they became the publishers of the Times, it was a nearly defunct newspaper. Under their management, it has become a prosperous business and a dependable community servant. Our thanks go to them with our very best wishes for their future endeavors.
