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On May 16, 1839, William Gannaway Brownlow, “a hell-fire-and-damnation” Methodist preacher known as “The Fighting Parson,” published the first edition of The Tennessee Whig out of Elizabethton.

Like many 19th century newspapers, it was a partisan publication that proudly sounded its political affiliation in the nameplate. The inside pages carried a folio line that read The Elizabethton Whig, and later Brownlow moved his press and partisan nameplates to Jonesborough and then to Knoxville, eventually becoming governor, then a U.S. senator.

We like the idea of proclaiming partisanship in print and broadcast media nameplates and logos. As has been said elsewhere, if biased reporting is the enemy — and when it comes to crafting news stories, we believe that to be true — knowing where the enemy lives is helpful to readers, viewers and listeners.

Quite simply, the view of The Elizabethton Star on any matter is clearly labeled Our View in the Opinion section, and it does reflect a certain partisanship.

But more on that later.

When it comes to politics and politicians, we sometimes agree with stances taken by the Republican Party, other times the Democratic Party, and other times neither. Likewise, we sometimes praise a public servant’s performance, and sometimes we will call them on the editorial carpet, but it will always be labeled as Our View.

Other opinion pieces are published either as a Letter to the Editor or as a Guest Column, the opinions of which are the writer’s own and not necessarily those of The Elizabethton Star. We don’t have to agree with those viewpoints, and many times we do not; however, we believe they deserve to be considered.

The Elizabethton Star remains committed to publishing fair and unbiased local news, stories that provide important information.

While the physical human resource assets that produce The Elizabethton Star twice a week and 24 hours online belong to Carpenter Media, it is you who support this media outlet.

We confess to being partisan — for our readers.