Web turns broadcast editorialists into publishers.

To be sure, broadcasters have felt welcome in NCEW since the 1992 merger with the National Broadcast Editorial Association.

And while it remains a challenge to make convention speakers aware of broadcasters' presence in the organization, by and large we've all done a pretty good job of focusing on the common issues that bind us together as opinion writers.

Thanks to the World Wide Web, we now share even more.

For those of us accustomed to having our work heard, the broadcast station home page is an opportunity to have that work read. Beyond that, a proper "editorial page" on the Web offers the possibility of a vibrant letters section and even the op-ed function that has defied broadcasters since editorials were first aired.

This has us thinking quite seriously about how we conduct our editorial business here at WISC-TV. Although the Federal Communications Commission (wrongly) makes broadcast endorsements prohibitive, we have always felt competitive with the two major daily newspapers in Madison. I have nothing but respect for my colleagues at The Capital Times and The Wisconsin State Journal, but there's nothing I like better than airing a well-written, attention-grabbing editorial before they get their own into print.

However, while there's an editorial on our air every day, I write only four a week, and as many as 72 hours can pass between writing and airing.

The Web levels that playing field considerably. In fact, I'll put my editorials on the home page within minutes after they're taped. You can read 'em before you see 'em. Make that, read them before you see them. The other major Web consideration is grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Rather than write two versions of one editorial, it's simpler to make one's writing style applicable to both the ear and the eye.

We think our Web site was pretty sharp to begin with. But we are currently constructing an entirely new page that offers opportunities about which I am only now becoming familiar. It seems to me it could be as lively, compelling, interactive, and interesting as any print editorial section around. I'm exploring the idea of having local "columnists" submit material for what could be an op-ed page. Letter writers could talk to us, and each other, instantly.

Eventually people could even watch me deliver the editorial on the Web if they so wished. In a city like Madison, that could mean more hits than we get after the 10 o'clock news.

NCEW member Neil Heinen is editorial director for WISCTV in Madison, Wis., and chair of NCEW's broadcast editorial committee.