Welcome to Polk Perspectives!

I’m Brandt Merritt, a former reporter and copy editor at The Ledger and now a writer at Southeastern University in Lakeland. This is an exciting new project for me, and something that I honestly don’t know exactly where it’s going to go. Basically, I wanted to maintain a voice in Polk County after leaving the newspaper, and this seemed like a decent way to do it.

If you’re not familiar with me from my day at The Ledger, you can check out some more background info by clicking on the “About” link on the menu. I don’t want to elaborate on myself, but rather on what this site is going to deal with.

Actually, the best way to approach that topic is to reverse it. What won’t I address on Polk Perspectives?

The fact that Polk is in the name should be a little bit of a hint. I plan to focus my attention on things that go on here in Polk County. Or at the very least, I’ll address topics that significantly affect Polk County.

So don’t expect to see much commentary on the World Series if there isn’t some connection to this area, or on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions or the State of the Union. I’m also not a big celebrity guy, so you won’t find any tabloid thoughts or red carpet criticism here.

Mayoral races in Orlando or Miami aren’t very interesting to me, and neither are snow storms in Atlanta. But the area’s professional and college sports teams are, as well as Polk’s high schools, and important state issues like taxes and off-shore drilling matter to this county, too.

So I plan to keep it local, with a little bit of creative license.

I don’t plan on breaking news or burying peoples’ reputations or spouting off things just to get attention. That’s why Perspective is in the title. I want to take a big-picture look at things.

I also expect to share what I hope will be broad perspectives on faith and life as I come across things I find enlightening and want to share. For full disclosure purposes, I am a Christian, and that foundation will impact my thoughts on everything I write here.

Finally, I want to engage with you. Share your comments, pass along ideas, start a dialogue. I love hearing your stories, and I hope this site can enhance the sense of community we feel here in Polk County.

I’m excited, so let’s get started!