I have been a reader of the NT News since coming to the NT in 1975. From around 1990 I also became a contributor through letters and columns written and published by both the NT News and the Sunday Territorian.

There have been several major revampings of the paper over those years.  The latest change to the ‘Opinion’ feature is not one that resonates with me and hopefully the two page approach will be reinstated.  

The letters and SMS text section are too crimped and do not allow sufficiently for any expansive comment. There was a period in times past when letters to the editor overflowed into supplementary pages so that opinions could be shared. This overcame any backlog of correspondence.

Personally, I thought that the two page opinion spread, allowing for both letters and texts in separation from each other was an ideal model.  

In time a new cartoonist might become part of what is featured. I know that Colin Wicking is a hard act to follow but there are other good cartoonists with wit and skill out there. Maybe you might encourage a competition to assess replacement talent with editorial and reader reaction helping to come up with a final contender or a number of persons who might offer cartoons on rotation.

My sincere hope is that the opinion section of the NT News will not retain its truncated form for too long. If that happens reader response may well be discouraged.

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