BENNINGTON — Articles. Columns. Letters to the editor.
These are the newspaper parts that consume the days of journalists’ lives.
They’re all different, even if they come in the same package, and readers sometimes get confused about which part of the paper is which. When we reach a fever pitch of questions, we write an explainer like this to help light the way.
Articles
As a media organization, we’re best known for our articles. These are independently written, factual and accurate reports of the doings in Bennington and Windham counties. These articles, also called stories, are written by our team of reporters and correspondents. Correspondent is a highfalutin way of saying freelancer or independent contractor.
Articles appear on the front page and throughout the paper, often under a page heading of Local News.
Reporters follow a code of ethics, in which their written or photographic work must be fair, accurate and true. Above and beyond being professional witnesses for community life, our articles often are built upon reputable sources, such as state, county, local and federal documents and employees. We also rely on regular folks to share the stories of their lives.
We aim to verify and fact-check all information that we print, to maintain accuracy and fairness.
Sports articles are also news accounts, with a focus on the home teams and local players.
Our Arts & Entertainment and Business sections feature articles and niche commentaries, delving into trends, openings and closings, people, music, culture and food.
We also feature news from reputable wire services and aggregators, such as The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
News releases come to us from a wide swath of individuals and groups: upcoming community chicken barbecues and potlucks, theatrical events, musical performances, promotions and hirings, religious listings, senior and preschool notes, U.S. military service announcements, honor rolls and much more. You can send these to news@benningtonbanner.com, and we’ll prep them for print.
Opinion
Opinion pages — sometimes called op-ed or editorial pages — are filled with exactly that: opinions. These are the people’s pages, in which community members write letters to the editor, the bedrock of the opinion pages.
These letters are from community members large and small, who want to have their voices heard in about 400 words or less.
Columns are another form of opinion writing from the community. These are longer essays, usually to the tune of about 650 words. The paper runs occasional columns, and also runs regular columns. These tend to focus on local and national matters, and occasionally world issues, like the war on Ukraine.
Editorials comprise the third pillar of the opinion pages. These are the opinions of “the paper,” consensus for which is reached among an informal board of editors and the publisher. Editorials usually direct your eyes to items worth crowing proudly about, issue warnings to the public and decry anything that smacks of corruption, greed and malfeasance.
Columns and letters don’t represent the views of the publication, but editorials do. For the former, we run almost everything we receive. We don’t publish personal attacks, and editors reserve the right to edit submissions as needed. All submissions are checked for veracity, and faux content — such as false claims about presidential birthplaces and pandemics — gets sent to the deleted file. Otherwise, send your columns and letters our way at news@benningtonbanner.com.
The other stuff
Newspapers, in print and online, also offer puzzles, horoscopes, advice columns, cartoons, games and more.
We have a weather map (back by popular demand), as well as obituaries (paid for by families), legal notices (paid for by individuals, cities, states and towns, and firms), advertisements (everything from free kittens to brand new Cadillacs, some free and some paid) and more.
By the way, speaking of legal notices, we’re a “paper of record” for critical information throughout the year, where you can find all things important to your town: vital meetings, warnings, planning and zoning issues, delinquent tax sales, proposed ordinances and more. Public notices have been in print newspapers since this country (and state) was founded.
Who we are and what we do
Most newspapers, like the Vermont News & Media family of publications, are privately owned businesses that works on the public’s behalf. Some are cooperatives, or worker-owned, and some are even nonprofit (although all seem to be nonprofit, so to speak).
Our small team is made up of salespeople, reporters, photojournalists, editors, office administrators and delivery folks. We all work tirelessly for the communities we serve.
We operate under the protections of the First Amendment to the Constitution, printing without fear or favor, the news of the day. If you want something covered by your paper, let us know. Email us at news@benningtonbanner.com.
