Conservative Columnist Added

In an effort to even up the number of conservative and liberal syndicated columnists on our Opinion pages, we are adding conservative writer Kathleen Parker.

Parker, whose work will appear on Mondays, will replace Marsha Mercer, the Washington bureau chief for Media General, the parent company of the Bristol Herald Courier. Mercer’s nonpartisan column will float for use on a space-available basis.

We are eliminating Ellen Goodman, a more liberal columnist whose work has run on Tuesdays opposite conservative George Will. His column will continue to run on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The column of The Washington Post’s David Broder, an independent and one of the nation’s top political reporters, will run on Thursdays and Sundays. Pulitzer Prize-winner Leonard Pitts, who writes a left-of-center column for The Miami Herald, will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Also look for Mary Perren Russell’s column on a floating, space-available basis. Russell writes from a nonpartisan point of view for Westwood One Communications and focuses on Tennessee issues. Her column appears today.

Humorist Scott Hollifield, editor of the Media General-owned McDowell News in Marion, N.C., will appear on our Sunday commentary page.

Our local columnists, managing editor J. Todd Foster and opinion page editor Suzanne Tate, also will continue to have regular Sunday columns.

We decided to add Parker to reflect the desires of our readers for another conservative voice. Russell and Mercer are becoming floaters because space concerns won’t allow us to guarantee a second commentary page on Tuesdays.

We welcome your opinions about matters of public interest and in response to views reflected on this page. We urge you to keep writing letters to the editor, even though the presidential campaign is over. There are plenty of local, state and other national issues that should keep your interest piqued.