The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Newspapers like the Bangor Daily News have had opinion sections for more than 100 years. Opinion writers and editors have long advocated for, and sometimes achieved, positive changes for our communities, most notably expanded civil rights and improved infrastructure.
However, interest in newspaper opinion content has waned significantly in recent years, not just here, but nationally. While we have deeply appreciated its dedicated, but small, following, we realize we are not serving the majority of people who read the BDN.
With that in mind, we are changing our opinion section to reflect changed reading habits. It will still remain a center of community engagement where you can share your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you, and influence our policymakers to act.
We will still publish editorials on critical issues, but beginning on Jan. 27, there will be less of the BDN editorial board suggesting what readers should think and do and more commentary from experts to better inform ourselves, our audience and our political leaders.
We will also end our weekly and biweekly commentary. Matt Gagnon, Amy Fried, Mike Cianchette and Gwynne Dyer have informed, surprised and even provoked readers for more than a decade. We appreciate their long dedication to the BDN and our audience. We hope they will still write occasionally.
Opinion pieces will continue to appear on our website daily. We will then curate the best content into the familiar print opinion pages each weekend.
Most importantly, we want to continue to hear from you. Send us your letters and columns, and let us know what else you’d like to see on these pages. Write to me at syoung@bangordailynews.com.
We will continue to change and evolve as we seek to provide you, our longtime engaged readers, and new members of the BDN community, the information and engagement tools that most interest you.
Thank you for your continued support.
— Susan Young, Bangor Daily News opinion editor