Opinion writing on the Web


As a someone who makes his living as an opinion writer, I'm well aware of the hoary old joke about opinions being as plentiful as a certain part of the human anatomy.

Yes, indeedy, everybody's got one.

Today the Internet makes it possible for professional opinion writers, as well as non-professional cogitators, to fling those opinions farther than ever before.

This is a good thing, I think. Sure, sometimes the Internet has the look and feel of a 24-hour, global Jerry Springer Show, complete with flying chairs.

But the free flow of ideas is, of course, the Internet's strength. Never before have we had a tool that enables so many of us to jump into local, national and international debates and let our thoughts be known.

I'm biased, of course, but I think the old-fashioned, ink-stained kind of opinion writing still has much to offer the Internet. At quality newspapers, editorial pages have historically played vital roles in their communities by providing a public forum for a vibrant but civil discussion of issues. The Net, of course, now offers an even larger forum, but I think it could learn a lot from newspapers about the 'civil' part of the equation.

Below are several sites on the Internet that provide a handy set of links to newspaper editorial pages, columnists and letters to the editor. I'll explore additional sites devoted to commentary in upcoming columns.

http://www.opinion-pages.org/

This site, owned and operated by Monty Kersell, offers a lengthy list of commentary sites from the United States, Canada and around the world. Links are provided for newspapers large and small, as well as alternative publications that aren't as widely circulated.

This site also offers a very good search engine of opinion pages. Want to know what the world is saying about the war in Kosovo? This is an excellent place to gather an overview of that issue and just about anything else being discussed on editorial pages today.

http://www.ncew.org/second.html

This site, operated by the National Conference of Editorial Writers, is geared toward editorial writers and columnists, but it has numerous items that might be of interest to newspaper readers and to other journalists.

The URL above will take you to a list of editorial pages at major-market newspapers.

For a glimpse at how opinion writers are making the transition to the electronic age, visit http://www.ncew.org/future/intro.html. It's an excerpt from a discussion in The Masthead, a print publication for NCEW members.

http://internet-esq.com/editorials.htm

This site bills itself as "The Mother of All Editorial Pages." It's not really, but the list does provide handy links to a number of opinion pages around the United States.

The copyright of the article Opinion writing on the Web in Journalism is owned by Daryl Lease. Permission to republish Opinion writing on the Web in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic