Columns, forums and blogs
I talked to a rather unpleasant person the other day - the kind of conversation where you have to struggle to remain polite and professional.
He was calling to complain about a sports column written by Jason Haupricht, an Evening News sports writer who recently moved to a new assignment as a copy editor.
Jason offered his opinion - that’s what columnists do - that Michigan fans should stop whining about Florida moving ahead of the Wolverines into the national championship game.
About the third time the caller demanded to know why we allowed that crap in the newspaper, and the third time I told him it was an individual writer’s opinion and didn’t necessarily reflect anyone else’s opinion at The Evening News, we decided it was time to agree to disagree.
The Evening News has half-a-dozen writers who offer their opinions in weekly columns. Several are writers or editors on our staff; others, like Tom Treece and John Morris, are members of the community. In all cases, their columns represent their own opinions, not the newspaper’s, and not necessarily anyone else’s.
Some of the columnists, like sports writer Jeff Meade, seem to revel in offering dissenting viewpoints. It sometimes seems like Jeff is trying to pick a fight - to play devil’s advocate. Those who know him understand that’s just his approach - he says what he thinks; take it or leave it.
I suspect that’s partly what Jason was doing with his Michigan-OSU-Florida column. He was hard on the Wolverines and he got the response he expected. Most of our readers probably didn’t agree with him. But he offered them some food for thought.
More than anything else, that’s what columns are all about.
Which brings me to blogs like those on blogsmonroe.com. Much like columns, blogs are a chance to offer opinions, information, advice. Even better, they invite immediate feedback. Readers can join the conversation. If you don’t like the writer’s opinion, offer your own. Check out blogsmonroe.com here.
We also have forums on monroenews.com. Anyone can pick a topic and offer their opinion. You be the columnist, or the blogger. Let others react. Check out the forums here.
By the way, I don’t mind the phone calls. Even the critical ones. Even the unpleasant ones. We really do want to know what readers are thinking.
But I’m not going to do anything to stop columnists from expressing their opinions.