Inside Opinion

If you have questions about how the Daily News makes editorial decisions, this blog has the answers. Editorial page editor Matt Zencey and writers Frank Gerjevic and Rosemary Shinohara will discuss what they're working on, answer questions and ask your perspective on issues facing Alaska.


Contributors

Matt Zencey

Matt Zencey joined the Daily News as an editorial writer in 1985 and was named editorial page editor in May 2007. He has won several. "Best editorial writing" awards from the Alaska Press Club and was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. He lives on the west side of Anchorage, where he enjoys the best weather in town and easy access to the Coastal Trail. E-mail Matt at mzencey@adn.com

Frank Gerjevic

Frank Gerjevic has worked at the Daily News since 1978, where he's been sports editor, copy editor, reporter and columnist. He's been an editorial writer since 1998. He began his newspaper career with the Anchorage Times in 1975. E-mail Frank at fgerjevic@adn.com

Rosemary Shinohara

Rosemary Shinohara is an editorial writer who has lived most of her life in Alaska. She has spent most of her career as a reporter or editor at the Daily News. She covered construction of the Alaska oil pipeline, the Legislature, schools and urban affairs. She has also been an editor for NPR's All Things Considered, and has written for the Associated Press. E-mail Rosemary at rshinohara.com

Archive

ADN letters about Palin . . . - 9/5/2008 7:47 am

About Palin's speech . . . - 9/4/2008 12:06 am

From the Palin for Governor archives.... - 9/3/2008 4:33 pm

Palin's responses to Eagle Forum questionnaire - 9/2/2008 4:07 pm

Palin's record: What ADN has said - 9/2/2008 2:19 pm

More commentaries on Sarah Palin - 8/29/2008 4:10 pm

A before-the-fact endorsement of Palin as VP choice - 8/29/2008 3:38 pm

More commentaries on Sarah Palin - 8/29/2008 3:28 pm

A great day for Alaska, but for the country...? - 8/29/2008 12:32 pm

Commentaries on Sarah Palin - 8/29/2008 11:53 am

Send us letters on Sarah as veep - 8/29/2008 10:30 am

Why are state energy conservation rebates so hard to get? - 8/28/2008 2:48 pm

An investigation of gas prices - 8/12/2008 2:33 pm

anti-AGIA stall continues - 7/31/2008 11:32 am

AGIA passes Senate committee unamended - 7/30/2008 10:11 pm

Begich Re: Monegan, circa 2006 - 7/21/2008 3:33 pm

Why Daily News editorials are not signed - 7/20/2008 10:28 am

Is ADN unfair to Ted Stevens with our op-ed policy? - 7/16/2008 5:07 pm

For troops, families and friends - 7/16/2008 2:24 pm

Good, bad, ugly photos - 7/15/2008 4:23 pm

Exxon ruling - ADN editorial - 6/25/2008 11:49 am

James Christianson's lucky day - - 6/19/2008 11:18 am

full archive »

Why Daily News editorials are not signed

Posted by Matt Zencey, editorial page editor

Posted: July 20, 2008 - 10:28 am

A reader, unhappy that we didn’t have a stronger editorial criticizing Palin’s clumsy firing of Public Safety chief Walt Monegan, asks elsewhere on our web site why Daily News editorials are not signed by the writer.

Answer: because the editorials speak on behalf of the newspaper as an institution, rather than the individual person who does most or all of the writing.

Daily News editorials reflect the general opinion of our editorial board, which consists of me, (Matt Zencey, the editorial page editor), the paper’s editor Pat Dougherty, publisher Pat Doyle, editorial writers Frank Gerjevic and Rosemary Shinohara and editorial cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl.

Frank, Rosemary and I do almost all the editorial writing. We are in effect speechwriters for the institution that is the Daily News.

Running unsigned editorials is the tradition at most newspapers, though some do put the writer’s initials or include the line, “written by so-and-so on behalf of the newspaper’s editorial board.”

For those who wondered, I wrote the editorials about Palin firing Monegan.

-- Matt Zencey, editorial page editor


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  2     July 21, 2008 - 4:24pm | seewhy

off topic

but check out the revamped fbks daily news-miner site. see their letters to the editor section especially. really like how they organized it. letters are presented sequentially showing only the heading and first sentence of each. clicking on it, you can read the whole letter and the comments about that letter. that's far superior to ADN's interface 'cause you can easily sift through and bypass the letters and comments you're not interested in.

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  1     July 20, 2008 - 2:57pm | TheSdog

There should be no names

One thing that has always bothered me is the lack of an immediate opposing opinion to an official editorial piece. A kind of dissenting opinion to a court decision for example.

When VOT was on the other side of the editorial page it actually gave the ADN something many papers do not have. An actual ediorial opinion that often differed from the main paper. The only paper that really does it issue by issue that I have ever seen is McPaper (USA Today).

In most cities the editorial board of the paper tends to reflect the populice reasonably well. It is why the Boston Globe leans left and why the San Diego Union-Tribune leans right. The San Antonio Express-News often ran to the right when I lived there except on immigration where it ran left.

None of this of course applies to the "hard" news pages which almost everywhere have a left slant. That is due in part to national stories but it also seems to be sensationalism which is what the young reporters are often after tends to run left.

There are some papers (mostly weekly) that run a letter from the editor and there is a signed name.

The problem in ADN is that it seems the people running the editorial page are not in tune with the city at large. That is okay but it only makes the need for the opposing opinions to get on your pages.

It is unrealistic to think every issue could be offered a counterpoint immediately. It might be somewhat easier if you had a dissenter every time. However, given the people on your board and the left wing nature all have shown in the paper and in these blogs that is doubtful. There is an occasional moderate editorial but it is rare enough that it gets noticed.

It might be interesting to get an "opposing board" of people you know generally disagree with you and have them put together a piece when you do. Halcro is a decent writer and Fagen has his moments. My guess is that such a thing would end the erosion process of the paper's credibility. Then again, you likely do not think there is a credibility issue.

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