Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.
Balderdash!
What a wonderful, descriptive, albeit archaic, word to describe something that is nonsensical, stupid or dumb. One of the editorial writers at the Clarion Ledger, the late Leesha Faulkner, wrote it in an editorial one day to describe a statement by a public official that was, to say the least, nonsensical, stupid or dumb.
As her editor, I told her the word was too old fashioned. But on second thought, it was the perfect word. It made the point, made me think and made me even smile a little as I considered the important, serious issue about which she was writing. That is what good commentary writing does — it makes you think and engage in important issues.
You probably won’t see that word much in opinion writing. In fact, you may not see many words to express opinions on public policy or those who make it — nonsensical or not — simply because editorials and opinion pages are becoming fewer and far between these days.
While there has been an alarming tendency in journalism for some news organizations to let opinion slip into news (i.e. cable news networks), there has been just as alarming tendencies for media organizations to abandon the practice of providing responsible opinion writing as part of the mix of their media products.
I served as editorial director of the Clarion Ledger for almost 30 years, so I have an opinion about the importance of opinion writing. Media organizations should provide solid, fact-based, reasoned and responsible opinion pieces that provide information, thought-provoking points and leadership on the issues of the day.
The model of media with a staff of opinion writers — independent from news —has faded mostly out of financial pressures which have impacted all media. With limited staff, writing editorials and columns gets a lower priority. Sadly, the hyper polarization of today’s politics also contributes to the reluctance to publish opinions that might be controversial or may not follow the politically popular herd at the time.
Now, more than ever, we need strong opinion writing not only to help sort through complex issues, but also to provide voices of reason during a time when politics has so devolved into angry name-calling, misinformation and exercises in exploiting fear and prejudices to achieve political ends.
It is important for responsible commentary to focus on our local issues. Part of the problem with the decline in local newspapers is the decline of local commentary. That lack of local news and opinion pieces, according to studies, actually contributes to political polarization as people watch national news concentrating on the fight of the day with partisans screaming at each other. The lack of local commentary writing with strong engagement from readers is damaging to public policymaking.
Thankfully in Mississippi we still have strong local newspapers and media organizations with editors and publishers who know the importance of providing local commentary to provide leadership on community issues. Sadly, just not enough and not consistently.
The 2025 legislative session just ended where a wide variety of important, even critical issues facing the state were discussed. With Mississippi’s Constitution, the Legislature is the most powerful policy setting entity. It is not to be ignored. What those 174 members at the Capitol do will affect your life. The legislative session is a time when the public not only needs to pay close attention, but also be engaged.
The Legislature is a world unto itself during a session when lawmakers in the close quarters of the Capitol become their own sounding boards with information provided by special interest groups and business lobbyists. This is not to criticize legislators; most are just everyday folks trying to do their best with what they know. But they can tend to live in a bubble where priorities can easily become skewed by the latest political fad. (For example, the tax cut proposal that passed during the just completed session.)
Good policymaking must include thoughtful, fact-based examination that can be provided by independent observers who are not bound by any special interests and whose intentions are only the public good. Good policy making comes from public discussion from informed nonpartisan voices. However, too often today published and posted commentary on public policy comes from special interest groups with direct financial and political interests. That is not the same as an independent editorialist offering viewpoints with engagement by the public in addition to those interests.
It is important to have independent, responsible informed commentary that is not afraid to oppose the politically popular waves. I kept a quote on my desk throughout the years to remind me of this. “What is popular is not always right; what is right is not always popular.” Independent editorialists and commentators are needed more than ever today as we see government actions where facts are ignored and dissent is punished.
At some point, you just need someone to call the BS — balderdash stuff — and talk about the complex issues we face based on facts —with reason, logic and good will — to help us find the best way forward.
David Hampton is former editorial director of the Clarion Ledger, who retired after a 36-year career with Mississippi newspapers. He is winner of several journalism awards for editorial and column writing and is a member of the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame.
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