This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Which member of The Beatles was both the oldest and the youngest?

Ringo Starr. He was born first, but was the last to join the band.

Which department of The Salt Lake Tribune (and probably a lot of other newspapers) is both the smallest and the largest?

The opinion section, also known as the editorial page.

Even when our shop, like the rest of the newspaper, was more robust in terms of personnel, we topped out at five and a half people. During the Dark Times, we were down to roughly two and a half and now have clawed our way back up to round about three and a third.

But, then and now, and here and elsewhere, a good newspaper's editorial page can also be the best staffed because we draw on so many good people to fill our space and fulfill our mission.

We benefit from all those folks who write us letters to the editor, for a section we call The Public Forum, and those who contribute op-ed columns, mostly just for the pleasure of having a place in which to express their ideas. Fold in the syndicated columnists the newspaper pays a small amount for, and we have by far the largest stable of writers in town.

Even as we added online comments — a mixed blessing if ever there was one — and move on to things like videos and podcasts, the point of a good newspaper opinion section now is the same as it was back when Benjamin Franklin at it. Put forward some ideas, hopefully well thought-out and supported by facts, at least in complete sentences and without insults or invective. Hope that other folks will consider those ideas, answer with others of their own and that, over time, we will all contribute to thinking up and putting into practice the ideas we need to solve our common problems and fulfill our shared goals.

This is something we hope to discuss in what we see as a series of informal public gatherings sponsored by The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board. The first will be Wednesday, from 8 to 9:30 a.m., at Toasters, the one at 30 East 300 South. There will be bagels, coffee and conversation. But, please, no body slams.

As a society and as a body politic, we arrive at answers — or, at least, decisions — through a process of civilized argument. We institutionalize it in courtrooms and in legislative chambers and we democratize it in newspaper and online editorial pages.

The whole theory of free press and free speech is that no matter how smart or well-intentioned a leader may be, nobody knows everything, nobody has thought of everything and, most important, nobody can expect a society to hold together when people think their opinions cannot see the light of day.

These days we worry that all this freedom seems problematic because of the rise of news sites that deliberately promote outright falsehoods as a way of winning arguments. Or elections. They play upon the fear too many people still have of anyone who looks, acts, talks or thinks differently and all too often get away with lying about them because of a self-selected audience that is pre-disposed to believe the worst.

That's part of the mess of sausage making. The promise in the Bill of Rights that the government will mostly stay out of such disputes is based on a leap of faith that, if you mostly allow everyone to have their say, a lot of it will be bunk and garbage and even dangerous. But over time, and often enough, the friction of conflicting ideas and different sets of values and experiences will hone down a mess into a useful idea.

An idea that will become generally accepted and put into practice, at least until it isn't and we have to repeat the whole process.

Which, have no fear, we will. Over and over and over again. That can be wearying for some. I call it job security.

George Pyle, the Tribune's editorial page editor, became an editorial writer because, as a reporter, he wasn't very good at keeping his own opinion out of the articles he wrote.

What's on your mind?

I The first in a series of informal public gatherings sponsored by The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board. There will be bagels, coffee and conversation.

When • 8-9:30 a.m., Wednesday.

Where • Toasters, 30 E. 300 South.