Newspapers can protect democracy

This newspaper, like all others, is custom-made for you. The hours at board meetings, school concerts and writing profiles of candidates are all things done for you.

The local newspaper should the cornerstone of any community.

These pages really are where a community comes together. Every newspaper records the history of the region it serves and gives space to grapple with the challenges and issues of the times.

In these pages we see how the grandkids are doing in school and the learn of the sale at the corner store. Everyone in this business does it all because we think that is important.

And the fact you are a reader says it is still important to you.

This week is National Newspaper Week in America, and we are proud to be here representing and recording our community.

Any person, group or business that has these kind of ideals must always look for new ways to be of service.

With that in mind we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate National Newspaper Week than to expand our service by announcing our first campaign debate.

Debates are another great resource for the public to learn about the candidates and what they stand for and we hope to offer that to you.

On Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m., we invite you to join us at the Lenox Library for a debate hosted by The Berkshire Beacon between the 4th Berkshire District candidates, Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli and Lee Scott Laugenour.

We hope that this can be another resource for you and help you get the most out of the debate we are running candidate features of the two men.The first, on Rep. Pignatelli, is on the next page and one on Mr. Laugenour will be in next week’s edition.

Once you have had a chance to read these profiles, if you have questions for the candidates let us know and they may be used during our debate. You can send all questions to our assistant editor, Kameron Spaulding, at kspaulding@berkshirebeacon.com.

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on October 11, 2012. Filed under Editorials,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry