Editorial pages are one of those things, like phone calls, that mean something different depending on your generation. Maybe they’re essential. Or maybe they’re one of many ways to communicate, and not your favorite.
My colleague, Rick Edmonds, summed it up this way in a story last week about Gannett cutting daily editorial pages at regional newspapers.
“I get that there probably is a generational divide at play. Older readers, who have stuck with print or e-editions, may — like the retired editors I heard from — view editorial pages as an essential (however much the material is read),” Rick wrote.
As a Gen X in-betweener (who by the way will answer the phone if I don’t know who it is about 50% of the time), I can think of some powerful editorials and opinion journalism from local newspapers that led to important change, including in my community. And I’ve seen years of newsrooms attempting to lower their institutional voices and make room for perspectives we know aren’t typically in newsrooms or specifically on editorial teams.
I’m not sure where what’s happening at Gannett will lead, but here are a few examples of how newsrooms are amplifying different voices:
The Los Angeles Times created “Hear Me Out,” which takes letters to the editor and turns them into striking videos that help make other people’s experiences real and meaningful.
In Chicago, the nonprofit, online newsroom City Bureau hosts a series called Public Newsroom, with the goal of creating “an open space where anyone can gather to discuss and deconstruct local issues, share resources and knowledge, and meet new people.”
And just last week, San Francisco Chronicle editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz shared a solutions-journalism approach with SF Next “a Chronicle special project to involve city residents in finding solutions to some of San Francisco’s most pressing problems.”
Garcia-Ruiz writes: “Throughout our 157-year history, The Chronicle’s news and opinion pages have reported on what we find to be broken in the city, with the expectation that shining a light on a problem can get it fixed. We will continue to do that. But I think all of us in the city can agree that it’s time for new thinking, for collaborative, creative and workable solutions driven by input from our diverse populace."
What, if anything, do you think could/should fill the space once occupied by local editorials and opinion journalism? What alternatives might work? What alternatives are working? Reply to this email and let’s start a collection.
That’s it for me. After some time off, mostly spent piddling at home, I’m happy to be back to work and grateful you’re here.
Thanks for reading,
Kristen
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