This is a trying time for many in the media.

There is no discrimination: Radio, television and print search for new points of connection among readers, listeners, viewers and advertisers. Time-tested relationships are being questioned and in some cases abandoned. Whether those decisions are correct will not be known for some time, but the worst reaction is no action.

There are traditional roles that newspapers have performed over time, such as pulling together disparate voices and information to shape a community agenda. Some do not agree that tackling such initiatives is an appropriate role for the media, but rallying support to battle homelessness, to take back neighborhoods from gangs or to tackle a generational issue of obesity is appropriate.

For those who criticize government intervention in daily lives, there are reasons to have voices that rally and pull a community together to tackle issues that, left unchecked, chart a destructive course.

Who will take the initiative, identify the challenges and search for the answers? Often, even with criticism, it is the local newspaper.

But recently, apparently in an effort to find a comfortable footing in a fluid community, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution decided to end endorsement of candidates for public office.

Are there reasons to go down this path? Sure. Newspapers traditionally are tagged with a liberal or conservative label based solely on editorial or opinion endorsement of candidates. Readers extend the editorial endorsement to the news pages, assuming that an endorsement colors the everyday news reporting. Why would a newspaper publish a fair story for the person who is not anointed on the opinion page?

Have there been newspapers historically that have used the editorial position to set the news coverage? Sure. The Manchester, N.H., Union Leader is the most recognized example. Editorial support meant glowing reports for the candidate of choice and the ash heap for all others. Readers knew this and took the reporting by the Union Leader in stride, but it did not diminish the impact or the appeal of the newspaper.

In reaching its non-endorsement policy, the Journal-Constitution stated, “We have heard from readers — and we agree — that you don’t need us to tell you how to vote. What readers tell us they need is information on who the candidates are, what they have done and what they

want to do in the new job.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution made a choice, and one hopes it was not based on pressure from those holding a philosophical persuasion or a partisan political perspective. If either factored into the decision, this first step will not be enough. The next question will be whether it extends into taking a position on issues that are important in the community and, at times, will be controversial.

Tennessee will have a governor’s race in 2010. Hamilton County will have contests for mayor, County Commission and school board. Georgia will have a governor’s race and a U.S. Senate contest.

The Times Free Press will provide its readers with insights into the candidates and issues. And, yes, we will share with you an opinion — and that is what it is — as you, our reader and a voter, decide whom you will support.

If we are offering a point of view that you are free to choose or ignore, you are reading us well. That is what we believe a newspaper does.

To reach Tom Griscom, call 423-757-6472 or e-mail tgriscom@timesfreepress.com.