The newspaper editorial page serves an important role in the community, providing a forum for differing voices and opinions that exemplify America’s free speech backbone.

We may not like everything we read, particularly if it comes from a different political side. But anyone who truly loves this country and everything it stands for understands that differing opinions have a place – a very important place.

It is more comfortable to surround ourselves with opinions just like ours, but it isn’t the best approach if we want the fair and reasonable discourse that leads to a stronger community.

Our job is to keep it balanced, making sure that if one side has a say the other side can have one, too.

Before we ran a guest column last week that questioned whether The Winter Institute should work with Oxford schools, with the writer suggesting that its leader is politically partisan, we reached out to The Winter Institute, seeking a response.

We provided the same space in the newspaper and online for the response.

Readers were therefore presented with both perspectives, and able to decide for themselves how they feel about the issue.

We believe in the work The Winter Institute does. And, we believe that differing perspectives have a place.

Presenting them fairly is our job.