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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Why we don’t charge for letters to the editor

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With the political season nearing its climax, letters to the editor have been filling our email and mailbox alike in recent days. And, as we often do in our pre-election edition, we’ve allotted an extra opinion page this week for letters and commentary.

We are often asked this time of year how much we charge to print letters to the editor in support of candidates. The answer is always the same: nothing.

The only exception is letters from candidates themselves. They are allowed one at no charge, and subsequent letters are run as boxed ads, at regular advertising rates.

We know that some area newspapers do charge for letters to the editor in support of candidates, but we reject that practice on principle. Unlike the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, we don’t believe that money equals speech, and that political expression should be limited by one’s ability to pay. For many readers, a political campaign is the only time that they might feel compelled to weigh in on a political matter. And they shouldn’t have to pay to participate. When money equals speech, only those with money will have a meaningful voice in our political process.

Unfortunately, we see that very concept at work on our television screens day-after-day in the election season. The vast majority of that “speech” involves attack ads created by shadowy groups backed mostly by multi-millionaires and billionaires. While such ads may pretend concern for middle class interests, they are usually seeking to elect candidates who will back policies to further enhance the wealth and political power of our new generation of plutocrats.

Here in the Eighth District, those independent groups have poured $10 million into advertising trying to convince us to vote one way or another. We’ve all seen the results in our mailboxes and on our television screens.

At least in the pages of this newspaper, that won’t happen. We believe that everyone should be able to participate in the political discussion. That, when it comes to campaigns, free speech shouldn’t be a right reserved for those with money.

Of course, it’s fair to ask how much of our democracy actually remains in the wake of the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United ruling. Both major parties, fearful of the flood of outside money now pouring into political races, feel the need to arm themselves with gigantic campaign coffers of their own. Rather than governing, our elected Senators and Representatives are now expected to fundraise full-time, even while in session, in order to keep up with the deluge of “speech” from the billionaires. It’s no wonder that the people’s business gets such short shrift in Washington these days. Instead, we see top politicians routinely flying out to kiss the rings of people like billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who pours tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars into political races in a typical campaign cycle. It’s a perversion of the vision of our founding fathers, and harkens back to the reign of kings.

It may seem a long way from Sheldon Adelson to the opinion pages of the Timberjay, but the principle is the same. When it takes money to speak, too many Americans are left silent. That’s why our letters page remains free.