A newspaper can sometimes feel like a fire hose, delivering a steady stream of information to the reader.
This person was arrested. This tax is being levied. That politician did something controversial — depending on your point of view.
But the opinion page is different. It’s not a speech. It’s not a monologue. It’s more like a dinner party — a blend of friends and strangers, agreeing, disagreeing and chewing over the issues of the day.
The heart of those conversations are the letters to the editor. This is where readers tell us what they took from the stories they read, what questions remain and what they think we missed. They assert their takeaways. They demand action.
In 2025, our letters reflected some of the biggest issues playing out in our neighborhoods, our state and the nation, with readers engaging the same questions from different angles.
Questions about what the region gained from a $1.7 billion renovation at Pittsburgh International Airport drew intense reader engagement. A letter from Carol McCoy of Poland, Ohio, raised that question directly and resonated widely online.
We also heard from readers who demanded accountability over months of inaction on Pennsylvania’s budget. Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer used the opinion page to take the state to task, describing how that delay rippled through county government and into residents’ lives.
Letters addressed the Springdale data center proposal from opposing perspectives, raised questions about Allegheny Township’s finances and grappled with the contentious state Supreme Court retention vote. But the strongest pull on reader attention came from farther afield.
The inauguration of President Donald Trump in January brought federal changes that rippled into state and local concerns. Readers responded from opposing positions — confident and critical alike. Protests, policies and power were all debated on the opinion page. No matter what unfolded in Washington, readers wanted to wrestle with it in their letters.
This is why we devote precious journalistic real estate to these conversations. Whether they arrive as emails from readers following along online or as handwritten missives on yellow legal pads by longtime subscribers responding to the print edition, these letters have the same importance.
They are a conversation among readers — but also a conversation between readers and us.
The conversation tells us what matters, even when those concerns are buried beneath louder debates. A letter that appears to be about fracking may reveal deeper anxieties about health care. A letter framed around Trump can surface worries about jobs or the economy. Even letters about the Pittsburgh Steelers are often less about the Super Bowl than about regional pride and identity.
Every conversation is a give and take, and each has value — as long as we are listening to one another.
