The nature of editorials

By Scott T. Holland
Associate Editor

February 07, 2007 09:17 am

— Welcome to another installment in the random series I like to call “The way we do the things we do.”
Today’s topic: Editorials.
I know I’ve touched on this before, explaining in March 2005 the nature of who is responsible for the words that appear each day on this page under the “The Herald’s Opinion” heading. That column was about the editorial board process — the how. This will be more about the why.
Why do we write editorials? In my opinion — since this is my opinion — one of the main reasons is because everyone else does. Editorials are a part of a daily newspaper readers simply expect, a fundamental element like a sports page, crossword puzzle and classified advertisements.
But why did it get to be that way? When newspapers were started, they were the comprehensive source for everything — news, analysis, commentary, etc. Now, of course, such information is available everywhere via Internet, cable news channels and more. But since C-Span isn’t covering Clinton City Council meetings, local papers remain a fantastic way to get all-in-one information.
Long ago, newspaper publishers didn’t want to tell you only what was happening, but what to think about it. Of course, papers then tended to be openly associated with one political party or populist belief system, many going so far as to put “Republican” or “Democrat” in the publication name.
While that may be true in some cases today, I can say with full honesty that no one at any of our meetings poses questions like “What can we do today to advance the cause of the Bull Moose Party?” Yet, we still like to interject opinions into the newspaper, but try as hard as possible to confine them to the opinion page.
With a small staff, of course, it’s much harder to keep the newswriters and opinion writers separate. We must rely on the newsroom staff to both cover events without personal bias and also to craft editorials even if the writer disagrees with the stance.
When we write editorials, we try to identify an issue, examine the different sides and offer a future course of actions. Some topics are much easier to write about than others, of course, and some breed much stronger opinions.
Often the last few paragraphs include heavy wording, sentences that begin with “The council should…” or “It is time for lawmakers to…” and the like. We realize, of course, that not all readers will share our views or even be able to see how we could argue a particular point. And we hope our readers realize that we are speaking strictly as a newspaper — a private business made up of paid employees (and a volunteer editorial board) that gets to say what it thinks because it has a giant printing press.
Could Clinton National Bank issue a press release that says what its board of directors thinks about the building code? Sure, just as Fareway could post placards spouting off on the cigarette tax. But while they have the right, it’s not good business.
For us, opinions are great business, even if our readers don’t agree. We have our say, and we accept and publish letters and Web site postings written with the sole intent of calling us thundering dolts. It’s all about starting a discussion.
Are there times we wish elected officials took our suggestions to heart? Absolutely. But there also are times when an opinion is merely a sounding block, a first step in simply talking through an issue to see what everyone thinks.
Sometimes they’re highly critical, sometimes they’re laudatory. Knowing about our own dealing with the public, the criticism stings long after the praise has been forgotten. But sometimes we still feel an obligation to say something — good, bad or otherwise — out of the sheer worry that if we don’t no one will.
The worst thing for a community newspaper is an editorial board that believes it is the final voice of authority, and that’s certainly not the case here. We simply have informed, opinionated people who care deeply about the future of the community and are doing their part to see it improve.
But hey — that’s just what I think. What about you? Are editorials worthwhile? What about political endorsements? Are people afraid to write letters to the editor? Do our message boards help facilitate discussion?
To me, it’s all open ended, and I really do want to know what everyone else thinks about the topic. So let me know — let us all know. It’s part of the fun.
Scott T. Holland’s column appears every Wednesday in the Clinton Herald. His e-mail address is scottholland@clintonherald.com.

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