Your voice matters

  For as long as I’ve been a journalist, I’ve believed a community newspaper should do more than report the news. It should give neighbors a place to share ideas, raise concerns, celebrate successes and, yes, respectfully disagree.

That’s why I’m extending a personal invitation to you. 

If you’ve ever had an opinion about an issue affecting Gunnison County, I’d love to share it with your neighbors through the opinion pages of the Gunnison Country Times. Whether you want to write a monthly column, contribute every other month, or simply send an occasional letter to the editor, your voice matters.

Some of the most meaningful conversations in a community don’t begin at a public meeting. They begin when someone puts thoughts into words and shares them. We have many dedicated contributors, and I want to increase the number of voices.

As a newspaper, we cover local government, schools, public lands, the outdoors, community development, sports, and the everyday issues that shape life in the Gunnison Valley. But no newspaper can tell every story or represent every perspective. That’s where you come in.

The best local columnists aren’t necessarily professional writers. They’re people who care deeply about this community. They’re business owners, teachers, ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts, parents, students, retirees, and lifelong residents.

I’ve found that thoughtful opinion pieces often do more than express a viewpoint. They start conversations. They encourage people to think differently, ask questions, and become more engaged in the place we all call home.

As I settle into my role as editor of the Gunnison Country Times, one of the questions I hear most often is, "What's your vision for the newspaper?"

It's a big question, and one that will continue to evolve as I get to know this community even better. But from the beginning, one thing has been clear to me: I want this to be a newspaper that truly belongs to Gunnison County.

My goal is to produce a quality, hyperlocal newspaper that reflects the people who live here—their stories, their concerns, their successes and, just as importantly, their opinions. A community newspaper should be more than a source of news. It should be a place where neighbors learn from one another, where different perspectives can be shared respectfully, and where the voices of our community are heard.

That’s the vision I hope to build, and I invite you to help make it a reality by sharing your voice.

As part of that local focus, I've written in this issue about the health impacts of wildfire smoke. Luke Danielson has an op-ed on uranium mining, and Enid Holden has written about learning the art of burlesque. The Top O' the World Garden Club has submitted its Yard of the Week with a lovely photo.

I've reached out to faith leaders and offered them the opportunity to share their views. In this issue, Pastor Jake With at the Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church offers his Smoke Signals. Next week, Pastor Ian Wrisley with the Gunnison Congregational Church will write God is Speaking. Several others have agreed to share their spirituality in these pages. If you are, or know someone who may be, interested in writing on this topic, please let me know.

A community depends on an informed public, and a healthy newspaper depends on hearing from the people it serves. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously wrote in 1913, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Open discussion and diverse viewpoints help keep our local institutions accountable and strengthen our democracy at the grassroots level.

If you’ve ever thought, “Someone ought to write about that,” maybe that someone is you?

Please let me know what this newspaper needs more and less of, and please consider writing about it.

I hope you’ll consider joining me in making the Gunnison Country Times an even stronger community newspaper by sharing your thoughts, experiences and ideas. Please send them in.

If you’re interested in writing an opinion column or submitting a letter to the editor, please contact me. You can reach me, John Waters, Editor, at 970-641-1414 or by email at jwaters@orourkemediagroup.com.

I look forward to hearing your voice.