A recent edition of The Monitor published two letters to the editor. One admonished the paper for not sticking to local news, accusing it of becoming a “leftist literary opinion magazine.” The other sought to justify the “No Kings” protests in Montana and across the country. For me, this juxtaposition raised questions about what exactly is local, what is most important to Montanans, and what a paper like The Monitor should be publishing.
Consider this: I was returning from an extended trip through the Northwest last Saturday, driving through Central Oregon. In the small towns of La Pine and Madras we were slightly delayed by “No Kings” demonstrations. Is that local or national? While I guess there was no event in Boulder, there were events in smaller communities like Hamilton and Lewistown. Do we just ignore those because they are not local to Boulder or Jefferson County?
I happen to think The Monitor does a very good job of maintaining a local focus, and if the story happens beyond our borders, tying it into how it might affect us. After all, one of the articles cited by the person complaining about the paper not holding on to its local roots was written by the director of the Montana Cattlemen’s Association.
