A column published this past Sunday about tornado recovery and Black Lives Matter didn鈥檛 live up to our standards. We shouldn鈥檛 have run it.
It pointed out facts about BLM 鈥 the national organization 鈥 but readers called out its attempt to tie the group鈥檚 mission to disaster recovery.
But it also failed to clearly differentiate between BLM the national organization and BLM as a broader movement. As a result, many readers and community leaders were insulted and outraged.
To be clear, there鈥檚 no question that residents, as well as community groups such as Action 最新杏吧原创 and For the Culture STL, have played a critical role in the recovery from the devastating May 16 tornado. They have often filled the gaps that government agencies haven鈥檛. They have worked to help with repairs, cleanup and basic necessities. And many can trace their activism and community involvement to Ferguson and the BLM movement. The column did not hit on those points, which offer critical context.
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We鈥檝e heard from many of you in the days since the column ran. We鈥檝e published the passionate letters you wrote in response. And I鈥檓 glad you wrote those letters.
At its heart, our editorial page is supposed to be a forum for a wide range of opinions. We want to hear from all sides of an issue, from all political perspectives and from readers with all sorts of views. We want to hear from you.
Since the column ran, many readers have asked about our editorial board and columnists that appear on our opinion pages. The board includes area residents, who are not employees but still help inform editorials that are published. They also write periodic columns, meant to reflect their perspectives.
But there鈥檚 another important note here: the editorial pages are separate from our news coverage. One does not influence the other. The work of our journalists 鈥 the Post-Dispatch鈥檚 reporters and photographers 鈥 is separate from editorials and opinion pieces we publish. And for the past three months, our reporters and photographers have worked hard to provide complete, clear-eyed and compassionate coverage of the tornado and its aftermath. On the same day the column ran, we devoted four pages in our front section on coverage of residents still struggling after the tornado and the slow pace of recovery. Our journalists will continue their important work in coming months and years.
Since the column ran, we鈥檝e had several conversations about the decisions made. There鈥檚 been no lack of introspection. Criticizing the writer alone is not fair. Bottom line: We didn鈥檛 communicate as well as we should have as an organization, and we didn鈥檛 use our best judgement.
We should have done better. We will do better.
We always welcome letters to the editor and we aim to publish a mix of views. We can鈥檛 promise to run all of them, but we do read them.
If you鈥檇 like to reach me directly 鈥 on this or any other issue 鈥 please write me at: aachkar@post-dispatch.com.
Thank you for reading.
Alan Achkar, executive editor of the 最新杏吧原创 Post-Dispatch.
Lynn Schmidt's column "The tornado devastated Black neighborhoods. Where was the BLM organization?" drew many reader responses.
