Listen to your nagging voices.No, we're not experts, But editorialists do have advantages in a new world full of opinions. In the end, self-doubt may save the editorial. You know it, I'm sure - the self-doubt you sometimes experience about a half-hour before deadline while expounding ex·pound v. ex·pound·ed, ex·pound·ing, ex·pounds v.tr. 1. To give a detailed statement of; set forth: expounded the intricacies of the new tax law. 2. on the tragedy in Bosnia or the latest twist in the presidential campaign. Mid-sentence, it may hit you: Why should anyone care what I think? I'm no expert in foreign policy, economics, education. Then, if you're like me, you slip back into the comfortable anonymity of the editorial and console yourself with that half-fiction, half-truth that editorials represent the "institutional viewpoint" of the newspaper. But those nagging moments of self-doubt may help the editorial to survive what may be the most pressing challenge of the next 50 years, as more of our readers begin to ask themselves the same questions about our editorials that we ask ourselves in our darkest moments. People are becoming publishers of their own opinions. Whether in newsgroups This is a list of newsgroups that are significant for their popularity or their position in Usenet history. As of October 2002, there are about 100,000 Usenet newsgroups, of which approximately a fifth are active. on the Internet, on talk radio, or in letters to the editor (to a much lesser extent) our audience is opining o·pine v. o·pined, o·pin·ing, o·pines v.tr. To state as an opinion. v.intr. To express an opinion: opined on the defendant's testimony. like never before. Opinion, like any other commodity, tends to lose value as supply increases. When everyone has an opinion, is willing to share it, and has the means to share it easily with millions of people via the Internet, how can editorial writers make the opinions of their newspapers both stand out and retain the respect and weight enjoyed in the past? The answer, I believe, is not to let that self-doubt consume us, but to make it drive us to use the advantages we have to make our editorials as relevant, meaningful, and insightful as possible. What are those advantages? First and foremost, editorial writers hold the enviable en·vi·a·ble adj. So desirable as to arouse envy: "the enviable English quality of being able to be mute without unrest" Henry James. position of being paid to think and express themselves full time. We need always to remember what our real jobs are, and try our best not to get sidetracked by administrative duties and other distractions. Every good editorial is built on a solid rock of facts. Because we have access to great amounts of information, our opinions should be solid, or at least solidly researched. We can get information from the wire, from reporters, and from a variety of sources that the general public just doesn't have access to. For instance, I once spent nearly two hours on the phone with Senator Jay Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937), generally known as Jay Rockefeller, has served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1985. He was Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985. As a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. as he explained his tort tort, in law, the violation of some duty clearly set by law, not by a specific agreement between two parties, as in breach of contract. When such a duty is breached, the injured party has the right to institute suit for compensatory damages. reform bill in intricate detail. Most people don't have those kinds of opportunities, and editorial writers need to appreciate them and take advantage of them. Another often-overlooked advantage is the editorial board. We shouldn't write by committee - I have never seen anything good result from that. But we can think by committee. A good editorial board has more life experience, a wider range of knowledge and views, and more common sense than almost any single person. We need to do more to use that resource to bring a deeper level of thought, analysis, and reasoning to our editorials, and to give them the weight of an institutional viewpoint. Ignoring the self-doubt and hiding behind the editorial's anonymity is easier. But if we want editorials to rise above a growing flood of opinion, we'll have to do better. What do you see as the greatest challenge to editorial writing in the next 10 years? The next 50 years? Making editorials interesting and relevant enough to compete for readers' time against other newspaper content and other media. - CHARLES J. DUNSIRE Maintaining strong newspapers, increasing circulation, capturing young readers. - CAL THOMAS Editorial writers' inability to loosen up and write about topics people care about. - ANDREA BRUNAIS Taking a hard line on reducing the national debt at the expense of those who have profited most from it: big businesses. - HOLMES ALEXANDER Editorial writing has been the area of journalism that has changed the least over the years. I expect very little change in the next 10 years with the exception of a few nuances (graphic display). Newspapers will be around in 50 years, although more specialized spe·cial·ize v. spe·cial·ized, spe·cial·iz·ing, spe·cial·iz·es v.intr. 1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study. 2. . Editorials may actually play a bigger role in why people buy newspapers. - KAY SEMION Finding people to read them. Finding a place to publish them. I'm dubious about the future of newspapers, especially those who dare have a point of view. I'll be writing opinion pieces for a long time. - NANCY Q. KEEFE The Internet and Web are atomizing community. People read only what they think they want to, making editorial pages more important in that they (should) focus on community issues. - ANONYMOUS The greatest challenge? A temptation Temptation Terror (See HORROR.) apple as fruit of the tree of knowledge in Eden, has come to epitomize temptation. [O.T.: Genesis 3:1–7; Br. Lit. to scrunch editorial boards and use online editorials from different newspapers. Also perhaps we will have to justify our existence: if readers can instantly communicate/hear their own voices, why listen to ours from on high? Still I think SOME newspapers will survive. - SHARON BROUSSARD Being able to write editorials of substance in an age of marketing. - PARKER J. SAMS SAMS Scottish Association for Marine Science SAMS Space Acceleration Measurement System SAMS South American Missionary Society (of the Episcopal Church, Inc) SAMS School of Advanced Military Studies (US Army) I think newspapers and their editorials are going to go intensely local. That's fine with me. I try to steer steer castrated male cattle beast over a year of age. See also bullock, buller steer. steer bulling see bulling. steer Medtalk verb away from the Inside the Beltway "Inside the Beltway" is a phrase used to characterize parts of the real or imagined American political system. It refers to the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), a beltway that encircles Washington, D.C. stuff. The danger is that we might become TOO provincial. - ROBERT C. CUDDY cud·dy 1 n. pl. cud·dies 1. Nautical A small cabin or the cook's galley on a ship. 2. A small room, cupboard, or closet. [Origin unknown. Editorials are losing their identity as the voice of the papers. Op-ed pieces, guest columns, and letters are good, but too many of them can clutter the page for the paper's own message. - JOHN E. SIMONDS Attracting readers, especially those under 22, 23. - LEROY E. SMITH Finding a voice that is meaningful to ordinary citizens, instead of simply rolling truth down from on high to decision-makers. - MATT ZENCEY The challenge is to be relevant, now and forever. - JACK CONNORS Yes to editorials 50 years from now. Someone has to be the bad guy (or girl). I won't be around, but I'll haunt haunt v. haunt·ed, haunt·ing, haunts v.tr. 1. To inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural being. 2. some folks for a few years more. - JERRY C. AUSBAND The greatest challenge is internal fear - fear by publishers of pissing piss Vulgar Slang v. pissed, piss·ing, piss·es v.intr. To urinate. v.tr. 1. To urinate on or in. 2. To discharge (blood, for example) in the urine. off readers and thus denting circulation. There will no editorials 50 years from now, in my view. I don't believe our owners/publishers will continue to believe that newspapers ought to be opinion leaders (if they still do). - SUE RYON Engaging the interest of busy readers. Adapting to the digital world of communications. - PHIL HASLANGER Surviving the subversion sub·ver·sion n. 1. a. The act or an instance of subverting. b. The condition of being subverted. 2. Obsolete A cause of overthrow or ruin. of "community journalism." Finding capable writers. - HARRY E. FULLER JR. NCEW NCEW National Conference of Editorial Writers member Dan Radmacher is editorial page editor of The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia West Virginia, E central state of the United States. It is bordered by Pennsylvania and Maryland (N), Virginia (E and S), and Kentucky and, across the Ohio R., Ohio (W). Facts and Figures Area, 24,181 sq mi (62,629 sq km). Pop. . |
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