Editor of the Berea Office of Sun News since 2001, Linda is well known throughout the communities she serves both for her accessibility and the fairness of her paper’s reporting.  And both are important, because for a paper to serve a community well, the editors must know and understand the people that they serve and the people that they serve must be able to trust the information that the newspaper provides.  Linda Kramer has developed a well deserved reputation for accomplishing both.

A little known fact about Linda Kramer is that she served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and was the Editor of a command-level newspaper for the Aerospace Defense Command in New York, which was named the No. 1 newspaper in the Air Force.  She has also received numerous writing awards including awards for medical reporting from the Society for Professional Journalists and the Public Service Award from the Ohio Health Care Association.  A Mom herself, Linda’s daughter Ellen works as a film editor in Burbank, California.

All of these would surely be enough reason for Ms. Kramer to be chosen as the Moms For Ohio Award Winner for the 2007 Local Journalism Award, but there’s more.  For what makes Ms. Kramer an outstanding editor is her own strong code of ethics and her proven track record of producing a paper that is genuinely fair and balanced.  In addition, should you read the Sun Newspapers under her direction, you will find that the news is on the news page and the editorials are on the editorial pages.  There is a clear division for readers between what is opinion and what is fact, and that is an extremely important issue for papers who truly seek to build a reputation of providing credible and accurate news for its readers and under Ms. Kramer’s direction, Sun Newspapers has certainly earned an outstanding reputation of doing just that.

 
Each year, there is a week dedicated as the “Nationwide Ethics Week For Journalists”.  During that week, Ms. Kramer wrote an editorial which clearly explained the code of ethics that journalist write under.  And one has only to read the Sun Newspapers that are operated under Ms. Kramer to see that she applies these ethics each and every week.  She wrote, “The Code of Ethics is put together by the Society of Professional Journalists, which maintains an Ethics Committee and publishes a textbook for journalism students. There are four main topics in the code with numerous subheads. Basically it boils down to "Seek truth and report it." "Minimize harm." "Act independently." and "Be accountable”.  A journalist’s job is to be as accurate and fair as possible. Are we perfect? No. But we strive to be. We should be beholden to no one — not politicians, not advertisers. And we owe it to our readers to admit mistakes and correct them. Our news stories should be objective with every side represented. There are always two sides to a story and sometimes three or four. We need to make sure everyone has their say.”

The newspapers under Linda Kramer’s leadership have done exactly that and we want to thank Linda for her dedication and service and for truly making a difference in the cities in which she serves.

 
President Reagan was right, freedom is “a fragile thing”.  And as the saying goes, “Freedom isn’t free”.  It comes at a great cost.  Fortunately for our country, we have always been blessed with men and women who were willing to give their lives to preserve and protect our freedoms.

But to preserve our freedoms, we also have to exercise them.  We need to be informed; we need to vote; to be involved; to speak out on the issues that we care about.  Reporters play a critical role in ensuring that we are well informed on the issues that effect us.  Editors and columnists also play an important role as well, for they seek to interpret the events and issues of our day and how they will effect us.  It’s an important role, because columnists often have access to information that the average reader does not and will examine issues from a variety of view points, which also allows the readers to do the same.  To report the facts honestly and fairly takes skill and integrity.  To take a stand on those facts takes skill and integrity as well, but it also takes great courage. 

Kevin O’Brien, best known for his hard hitting, no punches pulled style, is one of the few conservative columnists in Ohio that writes a weekly column and his column is a profile in courage.  Tackling such subjects as education reform, illegal immigration, the war in Iraq, the issue of Iran and the growing threat posed by Islamic Extremism, Kevin  has gained a well earned reputation for tacking tough subjects with honesty and courage.  Agree or disagree with him, Kevin O’Brien brings to the Plain Dealer something of great value-blunt honesty and the courage to see the world as it is-not as we wish it were.  That’s something our country desperately needs right now, because the world that our children will face will be a far more difficult and dangerous one than the one we ourselves grew up in.

One of our country’s most treasured freedoms is the freedom of speech.  It’s what allows us the right to share our views, to speak out, to become involved in the political arena and join the great debate on the important issues of our day.  We can afford to have the great debate; what we can not afford is apathy.  And although debate is not always easy or comfortable, it is necessary and vital to a health democracy. 

There has not been a time in recent history where honesty and courage in journalism have mattered as much as they do today.  Our state, indeed our entire country, is facing some very tough challenges and over the next few years we will be faced with some very difficult decisions.  We need columnists like Kevin O’Brien, because they make us think about some of the more serious issues that will effect our children’s future.  Writers like Kevin force us out of our normal comfort zone and they make us re-examine the issues of our day.  It’s a tough job, but it is one that is absolutely necessary and vital to a healthy and strong democracy.

So thank you Kevin, for being willing to take a stand on the important issues of our day and for being willing to see the world as it is, not as we wish it were…