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Saturday, April 12, 2025

Steven A Smith

Steven A. Smith is clinical associate professor emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Media at the University of Idaho having retired from full-time teaching at the end of May 2020. He writes a weekly opinion column. Smith is former editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington. As editor, Smith supervised all news and editorial operations on all platforms until his resignation in October 2008. Prior to joining The Spokesman-Review, Smith was editor for two years at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon, and was for five years editor and vice president of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University Newspaper Management Center Advanced Executive Program and a mid-career development program at Duke University. He holds an M.A. in communication from The Ohio State University where he was a Kiplinger Fellow, and a B.S. in journalism from the University of Oregon.

Lessons in Empathy

I do not think you need a degree in psychology to recognize that our society is experiencing an empathy crisis.

The Hypocrisy of Jerry Falwell Jr.

But some hypocrisy is simply too big and so beyond rationalization – such as a big lie perpetrated by someone who has, literally, preached the opposite. That would be the fine Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, suspended last week after posting a racy photo to his Instagram account and then deleting it. (See above.)

Counting Blessings During COVID Stillness

And on Sunday mornings, we like to sit there, sip our coffee, read the newspapers, and watch the world NOT pass by. I do not use the term often or lightly – but those Sunday morning moments on the porch are a blessing.

A Sense Of Rising Fear

It is a familiar feeling, a familiar sense of unease, panic of a sort. And I have had that feeling before.

Society’s Promise To Protect Children

Maybe the most important promise we make, as individuals and as institutions, is the promise to protect and nurture our children. That is not just an individual promise. It is a promise made by society.

In This Time of Division We Need Community Conversations

All of us tend to view those opposed to our deeply held personal opinions as wrong, and in these times, even evil. That black and white construct makes civil dialogue all but impossible.

Name Change A Win: Lone Star Dietz and Redskins

The Washington Redskins football team is going to change its name. Finally.

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