Given the crazy swings of weather this month, it’s sometimes difficult to differentiate when one season has ended and another has begun.
The recent week of 95-degree weather followed by nights in the 30s is just one example of how our seasons aren’t clearly defined anymore.
When lines that were once pretty clear become blurred, it can be unsettling.
As journalists, we recognize that the line between news and opinion is often blurred to the point that it’s difficult if not impossible for consumers of news to distinguish one from the other. It’s particularly prevalent in national media as well as social media.
The blurring between news and opinion has had a direct effect on Americans’ confidence in media, which has edged down to a new low. In 2025, just 28 percent of those surveyed by Gallup, a national company known for its public opinion surveys, expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly.
The reason for distrust is opinion and bias are too often intertwined when it comes to national media and social media.
But as a journalist who has been practicing this craft for more than four decades, I believe there should be a wide difference between news and opinion, and the Leader goes to great lengths to differentiate between our news coverage and opinions expressed on the Opinion page.
As a reader, you deserve fair, accurate and responsible coverage, and we want you to know that the Leader is offering content that achieves just that. Our goal is to provide reliable information in hopes of engaging, entertaining and inspiring Jefferson County residents.
On our news pages, reporters strive to ensure facts are vetted and all sides of an issue are represented so readers have an opportunity to understand an issue. And when we make errors, we correct those errors promptly. We want you to be able to trust the information we gather.
News stories are clearly labeled by their placements on the front page and news pages throughout the edition, as well as identifying who is doing the reporting.
Opinions, on the other hand, are relegated to one section of the newspaper each week — the Opinion pages.
On most weeks, we publish a column from a staff member that helps to provide context to an issue we encounter as Jefferson County residents or share a perspective the journalist has based on the experiences of his or her life.
On some weeks, we publish an editorial labeled Our Opinion that seeks to explain or analyze an issue in the news, while also offering our views, as an institution and member of the community. Those views, written by Leader leadership, can be expressed through praise or they may question why a solution to a particular problem has not been found.
The goal of Our Opinion is to elevate discussion and consideration of issues we believe are critical to our communities. Whether you agree or disagree with Our Opinion, we welcome your feedback and perspective in the hopes of engaging the community in a respectful, productive discussion.
Another regular component of our Opinion pages are letters to the editor. Readers can submit letters expressing their personal opinions on issues by email, on our website or through the postal service. These letters are not written by Leader staff members, but are instead submitted by you, the members of our community.
We do edit letters to correct spelling and grammatical errors, as well as for length, clarity and legal concerns. If a letter contains blatant errors in fact or stands to potentially unnecessarily offend our readers, we will ask the person submitting it to either tweak it or we may opt not to publish it.
We do try to give our letter writers a wide latitude to express their opinions. The goal is to encourage conversation and speech, not restrain it. By doing so, we believe the ensuing conversation elevates us as a community.
Perhaps it’s an imperfect approach, but we believe it is in line with our stated goal of making the Opinion pages a safe place for the marketplace of ideas where a person can engage in a respectful conversation about the issues facing a community.
Society benefits when its members have an opportunity to engage in conversation. We don’t have to agree with everything others say on social media, in public conversations or on these Opinion pages, but we should be able to have conversations that respect the views of another while not sacrificing our own opinions.
We welcome feedback and suggestions on stories we produce, as well as opinions expressed on these pages. Feedback and suggestions on stories may be emailed to garyc@myleaderpaper.com. Letters to the editor may be emailed to news@myleaderpaper.com or mailed to Letters to the Editor, Leader Publications, 503 N. Second St., Festus, MO 63028.