It is long overdue that a knowledgeable reader comment upon the decline of journalistic standards at The Columbian. As a nearly 30-year subscriber and former freelance contributor columnist for the Opinion page, I am acquainted with the proper role of the editor as contrasted with that of opinion columnist. It is common for a newspaper to feature a flame-throwing provocateur on the Opinion page, such as conservative Ann Coulter. In the case of the Columbian, the flame-throwing provocateur and the paper’s editor are one and the same person. That is not OK.
Columbian Editor Lou Brancaccio’s Press Talk column in the news section has over the past months featured a succession of “Don’t Do Stupid Things” opinions critical of Clark County Commissioners David Madore and Tom Mielke, couched in puerile and dismissive tones evidently meant to entertain. Many readers do not appreciate the joke. The term “M&M boys” is wearing so thin and yet it reappears so insultingly. If these elected officials were African-American and Brancaccio referred to them as “M&M boys,” would any readers be laughing?
Ann T. Donnelly
Vancouver
