Where have all the opinion pages gone?

Community newspapers have a long history of vibrant opinion pages. A vibrant opinion page gives folks a platform in their community to make their voices heard.  A vibrant opinion page welcomes letters to the editor. A vibrant opinion page welcomes differing views. But fewer and fewer community newspapers are publishing vibrant opinion pages. 

By Austin Lewter, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism

Garrison Keillor is a legendary American humorist, author and former NPR personality. He touched on the state of newspapers in a recent edition of his weekly podcast: “I accept change, even some changes, that cause me pain. I grew up reading newspapers, and now they’re dying by the hundreds. 

And the reason is simple. Most of them tend to be solemn, pretentious, humorless and so people prefer social media. The comments in social media can be wild and feisty and sarcastic. I admire George F. Will’s columns, and I also enjoy the hundreds of lefties throwing spitballs at him. You don’t find much irreverence in newspapers anymore. They’re rather sedate, like nursing homes.”

I argue against the doom and gloom narrative of community newspapers all the time. There are community newspapers bucking the trend and thriving, but Keillor does have a point. 

Eight years ago, I wrote a graduate school thesis — a content analysis of opinion pages at Texas community newspapers.

I found most smaller circulation, independently owned newspapers lack opinion pages. The higher circulation papers — many owned by larger groups — were more apt to have opinion pages. We are currently in the process of updating that 2017 study, so stay tuned, but I predict opinion pages have only decreased since then.

Back then, the community newspapers that did have opinion pages aired very few local opinions. They were filled mostly with canned content and wire columns from syndication services. They weren’t packed with local voices on local issues. 

Why have community newspapers abandoned opinion pages? 

The reasons could vary.  

Largely, I think it’s because they are a lot of work. They require some coordination, and newsroom staffs are smaller than they ever have been. A well-produced opinion page takes manpower and, increasingly, manpower is on short supply. But our communities and our readers need somewhere besides social media to air their views. They need an outlet that is sane, well-edited and based in fact. They don’t need nationally syndicated columnists or partisan hacks preaching about Washington problems. 

Your readers need local opinions written by local people about local issues. The opinion page is for everyone, and it behooves us to bring them to our readers.

I encourage you to reevaluate the state of your opinion page. Are there prospective columnists in your community? Are there issues that need commentary? 

If you are running an opinion page, I applaud you. Keep it up and keep the content local. 

If you are not publishing an opinion page, why not? Should you be? What would it take to get back on track? 

I challenge you to revive your opinion pages. Your communities deserve a public forum that encourages vibrant dialogue that doesn’t rely on algorithms or “likes.”