Category: Masthead, The

Good writing inseparable from the practice of democracy Bob Kerrey Editor’s Note: Bob Kerrey recently agreed to lead a five-year effort to elevate the teaching of writing after a College Board-sponsored study indicated that attention to the subject has decreased dramatically in American schools. The value of good writing has increased. Far from being killed […]

Raleigh News & Observer Winners of SNPA writing awards include other NCEW members: Steve Ford, editorial page editor of the Raleigh News & Observer, for six columns about the way the death penalty is imposed in North Carolina. William McKenzie, associate editorial page editor of the Dallas Morning News, for five columns addressing spiritual and […]

Black cartoonists missing from pages Richard Prince Talented kids love to draw. But the narrow field does not welcome new talent. Deval Patrick, assistant attorney general for civil rights, was in Baltimore last year telling some of America’s top political cartoonists about the “degradation and irresponsibility” he feels mark today’s public discourse on race relations. […]

Coming to grips with readability myths Alf Pratte Two of the fables continuing to bug editorial writers today are, first, editorial pages have poor readability and are ignored by all but older readers and second, editorial pages lack relevance for readers, particularly younger ones seduced by the broadcast media. Much of this mythology has been […]

Hosting regionals is easy as 1, 2, 3 Maura Casey HERE ARE AT LEAST THREE good reasons why you — yes, you — should consider hosting a regional conference for editorial writers this year: * It won’t take much time. Trust me. * It will be fun. Trust me on this point, too. I try […]

The loss of intention Paul Greenberg Each, he explains, has an essence of its own that speaks to us. A sense of place, a Southerner might say. Newport certainly has one. Its seaside mansions still echo the names of 19th century tycoons. As for this century, images from The Great Gatsby keep recurring – the […]

Shallow men believe in luck Ron Meador When I came to editorial writing a few years ago, middle-aged and clueless, I made a kind of specialty out of odd topics – matters that were on people’s minds and in their conversations but not necessarily at the top of the news. Sure, I’d say, I’ll do […]

Opinion readership scores higher than common wisdom predicts Susan Albright The Star Tribune was still pretty foreign territory to me when I ran into the business editor one day in the hallway. His name was soothingly familiar – we’d both worked at the Louisville Times in the ’70s. His assessment of editorial page readership was […]