One of the preconceived notions readers have about newspapers is that a paper’s editorial stances often bias its reporting on controversial issues.
This was confirmed during our recent reader roundtable discussion about our coverage of Indianapolis Public Schools. Many participants were convinced that our editorial page staff dictated to our newsgathering staff how to cover particular education issues.
“If I ever tried to do that, they (the newsroom editors) would just laugh at me,” said Andrea Neal, The Star’s editorial page editor.
Throughout much of American newspaper history, most publications were very partisan, with coverage taking a political bent. But over the past 70 years, newspapers have moved toward reporting the news as objectively as possible.
The role of editorial pages also has evolved. Their unsigned editorials still present a paper’s “institutional positions.” But over the past several decades, most newspapers have included a greater variety of opposing views in columns and letters to the editor on adjacent “op-ed” pages.
Neal said a newspaper’s editorial page is uniquely suited to lead community discourse.
“The newsroom is confined in its newsgathering function to remain objective. The editorial page is liberated to state its opinion and take a leadership role on the issues,” she said.
The Star’s editorial board consists of Neal, Publisher Barbara Henry, Editor Terry Eberle, Associate Editor Russ Pulliam, Assistant Editorial Page Editor Larry MacIntyre, editorial writers Tim Swarens, Dan Carpenter and James Patterson, and cartoonist Gary Varvel.
The editor and publisher sit in on discussions of important issues — such as candidate endorsements — but usually aren’t involved in the day-to-day discussions, according to Neal, who has been editorial page editor for a year and on the editorial page staff since 1994.
She estimates that 50 percent of editorials result from at least an informal vote of the editorial board; the other half are based on The Star’s conservative traditions and philosophies.
“We don’t take a vote every day, but we talk about the issues and assess what the consensus is, and then I assign an editorial to a writer,” Neal said.
What is The Star’s editorial philosophy?
“I hate to paraphrase The Wall Street Journal, but it’s free markets and free people with a little traditional morality sprinkled in.”
While The Star’s editorial position is “that the federal government is way too involved in people’s lives, we become more receptive to government involvement as it gets closer to the people,” Neal said.
And since most editorials deal with local issues, the traditional conservative-liberal labels many times don’t apply, she added.
While The Star’s positions still are rooted in conservative traditions, the paper’s editorial philosophy continues to evolve.
“We are definitely less knee-jerk than we once were,” said Neal.
