Rana L. Cash, 49, executive editor and Georgia state director, Savannah Morning News, Savannah, Ga.

Cash has been a professional journalist since 1993. Before joining the Savannah Morning News in June, she was the sports editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal. She is a Florida native and graduate of Florida A&M University.  

Intellectual jousting has long held center stage in newspaper opinion pages. Philosophies on politics, race and gender are among the many topics that have created great theater by those who use the platform as a megaphone to exclaim all that’s right and wrong in the world.

The opinion sections have been think-tanks and bully pulpits. In recent years, it has devolved into much more of the latter. The balance has tilted severely toward personal attacks, conspiracy theories and mean-spirited rhetoric. Gone is the polite debate stage in print and online.

With that, the attachment to editorial pages by news publishers has waned. Giving prominent voice, regardless of political stripe, to fringe arguments that weaponize the freedom of speech we cherish can be dangerous.

Many news organizations have rightly reimagined the power and purpose of editorial and opinion pages. That is the case at the Savannah Morning News and at the Augusta Chronicle—two of the three daily papers I lead—along with the Athens Banner Herald.

We have taken strides to talk less and listen more.

For us that means soliciting the contributions of our community to share in our opinion content. We have urged representatives from all walks of life—local government and education, faith and social activism, healthcare, science and the environment—to speak to Savannah’s readers about Savannah issues.

We also have a robust inventory of podcasts and a growing video platform that broaden access to our content and offer our community contributors multiple ways to provide thoughtful solutions and ideas about our city.   

Our readers have lots of interest in national topics and we provide those, but only from trusted outlets that fact-check and vet contributors. Opinion columnists must be held to the same standard as other journalists. To not be vigilant on this point invites some of the embarrassing situations some newsrooms have recently faced.

Of course, our voice has not gone silent. When the weight of the moment demands it, when the community must hear from us as an institution, we won’t hesitate to speak up. By practicing restraint, we believe our staff editorials will resonate that much more.