As I prepare for the start of my post-Christmas vacation – or what my wife prefers to call “working from home” – I thought this would be a good time to reflect back on 2008, my first full year as The Telegraph’s editorial page editor.

But before doing so, I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to these pages either in print or online by:
- Writing letters to the editor on the issues of the day or to voice your opinion on something you liked or didn’t like in your local newspaper.

- Submitting guest commentary pieces for consideration.

- Posting online comments to our editorials, syndicated op-ed pieces, local columns, guest commentaries or our letters to the editor.

- Starting a new topic or contributing to one in our online forums under the headings of “Local News,” “Opinion/Letters to the Editor,” “National/World Events” or “Candidates/Politics.”

- And actively participating as a member of our Reader Advisory Network, a collection of 175 readers who agree to share their e-mail addresses with us so we can seek their counsel on issues related to the Opinion pages.

Now, I’m not just saying this to be a nice guy; I’m really not. I’m saying this because – unlike other sections of your daily newspaper – your participation is absolutely critical to success of these pages.

That was one of the two main points I tried to make in my introductory column upon replacing retired Editorial Page Editor Claudette Durocher in September 2007. The other was that, by definition, you shouldn’t expect to agree with everything you read on these pages.

Here is how I concluded that “Here’s what to expect on your editorial pages” column of Sept. 8:

In closing, I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that the editorial and op-ed pages are unique in that they are the only pages in the paper that you aren’t supposed to like every day. Given that they play to one’s personal makeup – political, social, ethical, religious, etc. – any one item on the page is likely to elicit either joy or anger spread across thousands of people.

And that’s as it should be.

These pages are also intended to be the closest to your pages in the entire paper. We want to engage you in a conversation for the good of the community. We want you to share your thoughts and opinions through letters to the editor in print and through our forums online. In short, we want you to feel that these pages are your pages, too.

If we can reach that kind of an understanding, then I think we will get along just fine.

I can’t speak for you, of course, but for me I can honestly say I’ve found these past 12 months as your editorial page editor to be among the most fascinating in my 32 years in this wonderful business.

I mean what could be better in building a relationship with readers than a year characterized by two competitive New Hampshire presidential primary races, a near strike by Nashua teachers, a yearlong economic malaise that escalated into a full-blown recession, and the historic election of the first African-American as president of the United States of America?

Did we always agree? Of course not. Even if that were possible, that would defeat the purpose of having an Opinion section in the first place, now wouldn’t it?

More importantly, you helped us to make some decisions that were reflected on these pages during the course of the year.

When we asked you how we should handle the multitude of letters related to the presidential primary, you suggested limiting them to publication once a week on our Sunday op-ed page. (Though, as I said at the time, “don’t publish them at all because they are worthless” came in a close second.)

When we asked you to weigh in after we received some criticism for publishing a rather insulting letter, your thoughtful responses helped to raise the bar in determining what letters are – and are not – appropriate for publication.

And when we reached out to you for your thoughts on publishing some of our online reader comments in the newspaper, you offered enough support for us to turn “You Said It” into a regular Saturday feature in our print edition.

So please accept my sincere thanks if you contributed in any way to either providing or shaping the content of our print and online Opinion pages during the past year.

If you didn’t participate, that’s OK, too. There will be plenty more opportunities for that starting next week when I return for the start of the New Year.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got to run. My wife is on her way upstairs to unplug the computer.

Nick Pappas is editorial page editor of The Telegraph. He can be reached at 594-6505 or at
npappas@nashuatelegraph.com.