Sometimes I get people questioning why Hawke's Bay Today has published a certain letter or opinion piece which they believe unfairly criticises someone or something.
The questioner usually suggests that I should have censored the contribution.
It is a question that surprises me, because in New Zealand we are lucky
enough to have freedom of speech.
In some countries, newspapers are told what they can write. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, newspapers were severely restricted in what they could report and editors who disobeyed were arrested.
So, this newspaper respects the laws of the land and we hold the right of freedom of speech very dearly. We welcome letters from our readers and the only reason some letters from frequent correspondents are not run is because we want to give others a chance to express themselves. Thankfully, many do and it makes for lively and colourful opinion pages.
