Editorial: The opinions of 2021

The editorial is not a 10- to 15-inch space where a newspaper gets to let down its hair and loosen its belt and change the rules that apply to the rest of its coverage.

In a news story, the reporters uncover the story and track down the details. The editors help refine it, asking questions to make it better or find holes that need to be filled. The photographers capture or collect the images that help put the reader in the moment.

We find follow-up stories that tell you what happened next. There could be sidebars that pull out one aspect and give you more information.

But an editorial has a specific job. It is to give context. If the other work tells you the who, what, where, when, why and how something occurred, the editorial tells you why it is something to follow.

In 2021, Tribune- Review readers did that, paying increased attention to a number of important topics.

A look at the editorials that got the most traffic online shows readers responding to things like economy, state government and local businesses, but dig below the surface and there are some major themes that connected them.

One is the coronavirus pandemic. Another is how issues will hit at home. Will this affect my job? My bills? My commute? The way I spend my Sunday afternoon? These questions are exactly why an editorial exists.

People want to know about the nursing shortage, the way the state’s workforce is changing and what the heck is happening with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. (Spoiler: It’s getting more expensive. It’s always getting more expensive.)

But they don’t just need to know that there are fewer nurses. They need to know why that should matter. They don’t just have to know there are still jobs unfilled after the pandemic unemployment benefits were stopped. They need to know that this is just part of how the state’s economy is changing.

And the turnpike? They just need to know that it’s an ongoing problem that isn’t being forgotten.

Maybe you agree with the editorial. Maybe you don’t. The point isn’t to tell you how to think. It’s to help you ask the questions that will lead to your own answers.