Errors and Omissions

Architecture of Newspapers: part 2

Yesterday I talked about features. Another important part of a newspaper is the opinions/editorials (Op-Ed) page. This is the place in the paper where the editors, columnists and readers express their opinions. The Op-Ed page in a newspaper is usually well-identified, often in the third- and second-to-last pages of the first section (tabloids like the New York Daily News and New York Post don't identify them very clearly).

The Wall Street Journal is an illustrative example. From the front page through the rest of section A, you read about political decisions, economic issues, merger news, etc. Then, you reach the Op-Ed page.

All of a sudden, you are reading a different newspaper. Intensely right-wing, haters of Clintons of all genders, pro-business, anti-regulation. The WSJ Op-Ed page is clearly identifiable from 100 yards.

Op-Ed is also where the high-profile columnists live. For the Times, that includes brand names like Safire, Kristof, Friedmann, Dowd, etc. For smaller newspapers, it's where the syndicated names crop up.

The Times recently made a statement about how they perceive readers see value in the paper. When they created TimesSelect, the paid part of their site, the first content to be put behind the walled garden were the columns of the poeple mentioned above. (Access to crosswords, of course, has cost money for a long time.)

News is still free.

New York Times
Wall Street Journal
Newspapers

posted by Unknown @ 5/03/2006 02:31:00 PM