Jack Shafer Has A Very Good Point
Among others, he writes on Slate:
I want editorials signed by people, so I know who to yell at.
On the heels of Matt Welch being hired by the LA Times' editorial page, I second that. Matt's opinions, which I've been reading in Reason for years, shouldn't be ground into anonymity all of a sudden -- nor, in fact, should any of the opinions of the people writing editorials at papers. It's weird that they are, and something nobody seems to question.
1. It's "WHOM to yell at", Jack.
2. Don't we blast the editorial board, including the "offender", when we write an excoriating Letter To The Editor? The editorials are supposed to represent the opionion of "the paper" are they not? A shot into the editorial boardroom should have an effect on the writer.
3. I agree, anyway. Which editor is the culprit?
4. Have a nice day.
Deirdre B. at January 31, 2006 5:08 AM
I beat up on my ex-employers a lot, so here's something they did right: A few years back, they started signing editorials as "By So-and-So for the editorial board." This simple change was enormously and immediately popular -- readers noticed and commented, and were still saying so, years later.
And yet. Whenever the editors suggested this to other ed boards, they all blanched, offering a dozen lame excuses for why this was simply an awful, wrong idea.
No one is more resistant to change than a newspaper editor, I think.
Nance at January 31, 2006 6:40 AM
That's a really smart idea.
Amy Alkon at January 31, 2006 7:02 AM
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