From our BEST Culture of the decade feature:
I am simply unthrilled by the sale of The News-Gazette, like many of you. I understand that they ended up having no choice, but there was a reason for that, and I believe it very much could have been avoided. We are deeply critical of the paper, consistently, and for many reasons.
But there is no better representation of how the best parts of the paper are still vital and important and worthy of praise than Tom’s #Mailbag. It is a bright spot each week in an otherwise murky pool of bad news and shitty takes. Over the past decade, we’ve gone from confused by the inclusion of it bearing a hashtag, to not giving a shit and just recognizing it for what it is: the best weekly column around, by a good long shot. Each week, Tom Kacich answers various questions from readers about everything from politics to sports to history to restaurant openings. And each week, it is an engaging and extremely rewarding read, something only a veteran news reporter could manage. Tom does it with ease.
Of course he does! He is a staple in our community, and despite the fact that we have no indication about how much longer it will last, for now, we’re glad its been around, and hope to see it for years to come. (Seth Fein)