Civility.

It’s what a newspaper offers. It’s what cable TV news lacks.

Sure, those shows have lots of talking heads with lots of opinion, but they aren’t about trying to build a healthy, vibrant, fair dialogue. They are just all about getting eyeballs to TV sets for the lowest cost possible.

Just look at the recent flare-up over Delaware senatorial candidate Christine McDonnell, who is being punished now — by TV news — for stuff she said on a TV talk show when she was a young political operative. It’s frankly ridiculous.

Don’t get your political news from cable TV. It’s hyped. It’s divisive for the sake of ratings. It doesn’t tell you that opposing members of Congress actually do get along sometimes. It doesn’t give you insight on what viewers think.

Newspapers, on the other hand, offer opinion pages. Newspapers go through the expense of interacting with readers. TV news mainly works one way — they talk at you. Newspapers readers can pen a letter and feel rather sure it will be printed. Ever try to call in or write to a TV show? Newspapers — for more than a century — provide the means for people to mass communicate with each other. Yes, the paper does its talking over here, on the side, in the editorial, and some of the columnists are staff members. But much of the talking is done by others: readers who write letters and columns, both of which we enjoy receiving.

This is civil dialogue. Nobody interrupts another. The points are debating on the merits, not on who gets a word in edgewise. It’s a long format, not short sound bites.

Yes, political fights attract attention, but people with common sense like to get information without having hear people shout. We hope you enjoy the Newspaper Channel. You can find it on your remote. It’s the off button.