Opinion pages have been an important aspect of newspapers since the Hearst era. But now that articles are online and readers are given the chance to respond below the article, the question of the opinion's impact emerges.
In Israel Gutierrez's recent article on the Hurricanes' win over the Virginia Tech Hokies, readers lit him up on everything from changing his opinion earlier in the season to holding an SEC bias (and those are just the ones clean enough to note). One reader even directed fans to "fire israel gutierrez dot com," though it doesn't look like that website exists. I couldn't find a single comment saying anything positive about the article or the writer.
Which begs the question: what is an opinion writer's job? Is it to fit the prevailing opinion of the audience? Is it to offer his or her opinion, no matter how unpopular?
And if people read the writer's articles but disagree, is that still good for business?
I've been told two things about reader comments: 1) Don't pay attention to them, commenting is just a way for people to semi-anonymously post opinions they would never put their name behind, or 2) Read them since your readers are your reason for existing as a writer.
So which is it?
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2 comments:
Not only should writers read them, if they would actually post a comment or two in response, the whole mess would be much more civilized. At least that is what Alex de Carvalho would say... and he joins a growing number of experts who say reporters should participate in the conversation if they want to be considered the experts. Hard line to cross, but I wish someone would try it and see.
I definitely think it's the job of the writer to offer his/her OWN opinion no matter how popular or unpopular it may be. If a columnist was simply writing to appease to his/her audience all the time, then it wouldn't be considered an opinion piece, now would it?
I think you raise a very good question about the commenting. I, personally, don't think writers should be involving themselves in the story chats, but I'm sure others think differently.
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