Broadcast editorials return to Minneapolis.

"We offer equal time for an opposing view."

That was the old tag line for WCCO-TV editorials before they were discontinued in 1988.

"Write with your comments or join a Channel 4000 discussion at wcco.com."

This is what we say now, since the CBS-owned and -operated station in Minneapolis-St. Paul resumed broadcast editorials in April 1997.

Channel 4000 is our in-house Web site. Viewers who disagree with us are still welcome to go on the air with an opposing view. But they also have the option of using their computers to engage in an auditorium discussion on the topic of the day.

And that's not all that's new and different.

These days, WCCO-TV vice president and general manager Jan McDaniel is the on-air personality who delivers the mostly female editorial board's collective point of view.

In the 1980s, Ron Handberg was the on-air editorial personality. He, too, was vice president and general manager and presided over the editorial board.

The editorials stopped when Handberg took early retirement. They resumed shortly after McDaniel arrived from KAKE-TV, Wichita. Both leaders have strong news backgrounds.

McDaniel spent nine years at CBS News, where she began as a radio news writer, editor, and producer. She then became news assignment editor for the CBS Washington Bureau.

She went on to be Washington Bureau Chief for Chronicle Broadcasting Company stations (KRON-TV San Francisco, WOWT-TV Omaha and KAKE-TV) and, later, joined KAKE-TV as news director.

Handberg spent his entire broadcast career in Minnesota. He began as a news reporter, then served many years as WCCO-TV's director of news and public affairs. In retirement, he's written three successful mystery novels, all set in a not-so-mythical Minnesota TV newsroom.

There are some common threads in WCCO-TV's history of editorializing.

The main similarity is the reason we do editorials in the first place.

WCCO-TV management has always felt an obligation to spark public discussion on important subjects affecting the community. This is particularly important when so many citizens depend on television as their main source of news - and when few of our electronic media competitors ever bother.

We're the rare exception to St. Paul Pioneer-Press broadcast critic Brian Lambert's analysis of the "lost art" of TV commentary.

In a May 1997 column about the Jerry Springer incident at WMAQ-TV, Chicago, Lambert said, ". . . every nervous consultant on the planet tells their clients - station managers - that there's no upside to provoking strong reactions in viewers."

Lambert continued: "If the sports anchor wants to lament the Twins' lack of hitting that's fine. But nothing, ever, in the way of an informed opinion about anything that really matters."

On the contrary, our management has consistently believed that editorials enhance the station's position of leadership. The key is fairness - the willingness to make our airwaves available to persons who disagree with Channel Four's point of view.

There are at least two other links with the past.

The author of this article is the editorial writer/producer for McDaniel as he was for Handberg beginning in 1983.

And WCCO-TV has always relied on NCEW and its former broadcast cousin NBEA for guidance and professional nourishment.

The station's original editorial plan was based on interviews with National Broadcast Editorial Association members. And we hosted NBEA's 14th annual convention in the Twin Cities in 1986.

NCEW's 1997 convention in nearby Madison, Wisc., provided a handy opportunity to renew old friendships, make new acquaintances, and get up to speed on the issues of the day.

NCEW to sponsor broadcast editorial survey

One of the great, ongoing challenges facing the broadcast arm of this wonderful organization is determining just how many television and radio stations in this country are regularly offering editorials and/or commentary. This year we're determined to find out.

Appalachian State University professor David Spiceland will conduct a survey of U.S. broadcasters, the results of which will be presented at the 1998 NCEW convention in Ottawa.

Spiceland's 1991 survey remains the most thorough analysis of broadcast editorializing in this country in the last 20 years. And we know that while the number of editorials being broadcast dropped dramatically following the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, there is evidence of a rebound. We'd like proof. And we'd like those writing those editorials to join our ranks in NCEW.

Here's how you can help.

If there are broadcasters presenting editorials or commentary in your markets, please take a moment to jot down the station's call letters and send them to the grateful chair of the Broadcast Committee. That's me, Neil Heinen, WISC TV, P.O. Box 44965, Madison WI 53744-4965, 608/227-5133, [e-mail]. Thanks.

NCEW member Larry Schmidt is editorial writer/producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota.