Nov 19, 2016 4 min read

Nancy and Sluggo. Billy and Dolly. Linus and Lucy.

For much of the last century, young people have typically gotten into the habit of reading newspapers by following the adventures of characters on the comics page, whether it be through durable and much-loved mainstays like “Nancy,” “Family Circus” and “Peanuts,” or any of the new strips young artists are creating today.

With any luck, as they grow older, they migrate to other sections: entertainment, to find out what a favorite musician or movie star might be up to; sports, to check box scores, see how a high school team is doing, or read columns that cast a sharp eye on professional teams; and the news pages, where they can gain an understanding of how events in their communities and around the world are unfolding and how those events could shape their lives.

Eventually, they might also discover this page – the opinion page.

This is a forum where views on the news are offered up. It is a breed apart from the news sections, which provide the five W’s and one H of journalism – who, what, when, where, how and why. Unlike in Britain or other parts of Europe, where newspapers frequently have strong partisan affiliations and their news stories are infused with those views, American news reporting has a long tradition of neutrality and objectivity. Let’s say a political reporter is writing a story about a long-shot proposal to create a national health care system in the United States. The scribe could write about how such a system would operate, how it would stack up in comparison to systems in other countries, talk to supporters and opponents on Capitol Hill, determine its odds of reaching the president’s desk and get input from insurance providers and medical professionals.

Then, after the story appears, columnists or editorial writers would weigh in on a page like this on the merits or demerits of the proposal. Opinion writers typically deploy facts and statistics to strengthen their arguments, but the simple, bedrock fact is that they are opinions - they are meant to convey a point of view, provide illumination and start discussions. There is no need for them to be “fair” or “balanced.” Some readers might nod in agreement, others might find their blood pressure escalating.

Opinion writers are allowed to be provocative. They are, in fact, allowed to be biased.

The Washington Post TheNew York Times. Newspapers have a long tradition of using syndicated columnists who are near the centers of power to fill these pages. The columnists we use represent a diversity of viewpoints, whether it is the business-friendly centrism of Thomas Friedman, the old-school Tory conservatism of George Will, or the emphatic liberalism of Paul Krugman. They occupy lofty perches, have national followings and have passionate supporters and detractors.

The cartoons that appear on this page also come courtesy of syndication services.

This space is reserved for the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board, which, at most newspapers, includes the publisher and other figures in the newspaper’s hierarchy. Just as there is a wall of separation between the advertising and news departments at newspapers, a wall separates the news and editorial pages – the views of the editorial board do not influence a newspaper’s coverage.

And then, of course, readers can have their say by writing a letter to the editor. We welcome letters from all viewpoints, and we hope that our readers will recognize that this is also the wholly appropriate place to present our views as well.