Thank you for your excellent reader’s guide to reading the newspaper published Sunday, Jan. 3 (“Readers could use quick-start guide for newspapers”). Unfortunately, the article failed to explain the difference between columns written by nationally syndicated columnists/opinion writers and those randomly submitted by readers.

More importantly, you failed to explain how nationally syndicated columnists are selected for publication.

The Post’s readers should expect fair and balanced reporting and expect balanced opinions from nationally syndicated columnists. Too often we’ve seen columns from one side of the political spectrum but no counterbalancing column from the other end of the spectrum.

Though Rowan County is considered a conservative county, it is a disservice to conservative readers to publish only conservative viewpoints.

In fact, it furthers the narrative that our media is divided into silos. Readers should be given both viewpoints and allowed to decide which appeals to them. Let’s set the right example for today’s youth by giving them them articles that allow evaluation of opposing points of view.

— B.D. Robinson

Salisbury