Editorial Blogs ‘Open Conversation’

Growing numbers of newspapers are opening up the editorial process to their readers through staff blogs.

News sites across the US are starting up editors’ blogs to provide users with the opportunity to question ethical issues and story decisions, according to the latest American Journalism Review.

Editors on newspapers such as the Raleigh News and Observer in North Carolina, the Idaho Statesman and California's Fresno Bee all participate in Ask the Editors sections where they may be called upon to explain their actions.

Jamie Gold at the LA Times manages a similar blog which aims to outline the newspaper’s ethical guidelines and to enable readers to interact directly with reporters.

“Readers feel really separate from the press, and it’s become an ‘us versus them’ thing,” says Gold.

She adds: “It has been going on for decades, but it has gotten worse.”

Meanwhile, Jack Robinson from the Fresno Bee believes such blogs help readers to understand the editorial discussions which take place before decisions are made.

The managing editor asserts: “We all make that mistake by overestimating what readers know.”

He concludes: “We want people to understand the newspaper and [to] help demystify the process.”

And the trend for editors’ blogs is certainly catching on here too and a significant number have sprouted up in recent times.

For a frank account of modern editorship see Steve Dyson’s blog at the Birmingham Mail, while Adrian Seal’s blog offers a great insight into his day-to-day activities as editor of the Uxbridge Gazette.