As a regular reader of the Morning Sun, I am deeply grateful that our hometown paper has a high caliber journalist in the person of Dustin Strong. In case you didn’t catch two of his recent contributions, I’ll summarize them and then maybe you too will consider expressing your appreciation to him.  

In the Friday, Sept. 15 edition he had a front-page article about KS Senate President Ty Masterson’s local presentation promoting a flat tax on state income.  Furthermore, he went on to inform us of the reasons the Kansas Policy Institute (KPI), a Koch Brothers supported advocacy group, also backs its adoption. If his reporting had stopped there, it could be viewed as advocating the adoption of such a tax.  Instead, he went on to explain why Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed this legislation last session, why it was also opposed by the Kansas Action for Children (KAC), and how its adoption would have reduced the amount of income taxes the wealthiest Kansans would pay and how the poorest would have a dramatic increase in theirs.  For readers wanting more information about the matter, he closed by providing links to both the KPI and the KAC.  As one who deeply appreciates good journalism, I believe Dustin’s article is a textbook model for news reporting at its best.

Then, a few days later (9-20-23), he wrote an opinion piece to commemorate the 236th anniversary of the adoption of our Constitution.  As background information, he reminded us of how Shay’s rebellion (1786) triggered our national transition from a loose federation of thirteen individual states, governed by the Articles of Confederation, into a nation guided by a constitution, thereby subordinating the states to a federal government.  Dustin’s piece not only educated me but provoked me to think (especially about the effect of the 2022 Supreme Court decision [Dobbs vs. Jackson] which gives each state the authority to establish its own laws about a woman having access or not to a legal abortion) and to want to learn more, all hallmarks of a well-written opinion piece.

I look forward to reading more high-quality examples of both these types of journalism by Dustin in the future.  I also encourage you to express your gratitude to him as well, either in writing or personally.

Bert Patrick, Pittsburg