[ OUR OPINION ]
Endorsements and opinions
vital to newspaperOccasionally, the writer of a letter to the editor complains that words appearing in this column were "highly opinionated," apparently having skipped past the two words at the top of this column. Every other November, that letter typically takes the form of an objection to the Star-Bulletin endorsing candidates for public office -- a logical extension of editorial opinion. Such journalistic behavior -- or misbehavior, if you regard it as such -- occurs on the editorial pages of the vast majority of American newspapers. That is not about to change, and neither are we.
THE ISSUE Some readers have complained that the Star-Bulletin made endorsements in this year's election.
In the early years of this country, most newspapers consisted mostly of editorials, putting what now is called spin on most stories. Neutral articles based on fact began appearing in the mid-1800s. Some people predicted then that opinion would disappear from the pages of newspapers trying to attract a broad readership. In 1866, an essayist wrote that the time was coming "for the abolition of editorials, and the concentration of the whole force of journalism upon presenting to the public the history and picture of the day."
"The opposite happened," The New York Times reflected a year ago upon its 150th anniversary. "Opinion journalism acquired fresh life, as readers, swamped by fact, turned to editorials for selection and judgment, salted by adjectives not sanctioned in news departments."
One e-mail writer who declined to give his name said the Star-Bulletin's endorsements last week confirmed "perceptions of a journalistic bias. How is it possible to support a candidate and at the same time report 'news and facts' objectively on topics involving those candidates?" At the Star-Bulletin, as at most newspapers, a wall -- both physical and symbolic -- separates the editorial staff from the news staff. Reporters and editorial writers exercise no influence over each other.
Brent Rosenberg, a supervisor at AOL/Time Warner Cable of Hawaii, went further: "I don't think that the news paper should be in the business of endorsing political policy and political candidates. The newspaper should be in the business of reporting the news -- unbiased, unflinching and raw if necessary."
The Star-Bulletin's endorsements made it "sound as if the whole staff of your paper supports these people and initiatives," he added, apparently alluding to the editorial "we" that was employed in those editorials. "We" is an institutional term universally used in editorials and should not be attached to the reporting staff.
Reporters do not participate in endorsement decisions and will continue to perform their jobs in an unbiased and unflinching manner. Our editorial outlook will remain politically independent, but not indifferent.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, Editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, Assistant Editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, Assistant Editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comMary Poole, Editorial Page Editor, 529-4790; mpoole@starbulletin.com
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
John Flanagan, Contributing Editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Oahu Publications at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
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