craigdailypress.com

Bryce Jacobson, Publisher's Notebook

Bryce Jacobson's "Publisher's Notebook" appears periodically in the Craig Daily Press. E-mail him at bjacobson@craigdailypress.com

Craig — For those of you who did not have the opportunity to read this week's newspapers, we - Daily Press publisher Bryce Jacobson and editor Jerry Raehal - have decided to describe an editorial cartoon published in the Monday paper that sparked concern among many readers.

And justifiably so.

The cartoon implied that "Big Coal" is only worried about profits and doesn't concern itself with employee safety.

The following must be clear: This is an opinion that we, as a newspaper staff, do not share.

However, it appeared in the paper, and therefore we take full responsibility for it. We apologize for any heartache it may have caused for those troubled by the tragedy that has unfolded in Price, Utah, where the fate of six trapped mineworkers is unknown.

Each day, the Craig Daily Press newspaper staff works hard to put together a newspaper that shares the news of the day, advertising and opinion pieces. The opinion page is made up of columnists both local and national, letters to the editor, and editorials (the opinion of the newspaper, which publishes on Wednesday and Saturday each week) and a daily cartoon that we purchase from a national syndicate.

How and why this cartoon appeared on the editorial page is irrelevant. The buck stops with us, and as said before, we take full responsibility.

But know this: We've learned from this mistake.

And it won't happen again.

This does not mean there won't be cartoons that could upset some people.

The point of cartoons on an opinion page is to make people think, challenge them or simply make them laugh at an absurd situation. However, offensive cartoons, as we feel the one in question was, will not appear.

But more so than anything, we wanted to personally extend an apology to mineworkers and their families.

The issue of mine safety is important to many of our readers, and to the Daily Press.

The fact is that mineworkers are a major part of the identity to Moffat County.

Our hearts go out to those families and friends of the victims of the mine accident in Price, Utah. Our thoughts and prayers are with our miners here as they go to work each and every day.

- Bryce Jacobson and Jerry Raehal