The Augusta Press is promoting media literacy and awareness this week, and we figured that this would be a good time to explain the unique structure and by-laws of our Editorial Board and exactly what has to happen before this newspaper publishes an editorial.
The Editorial Board consists of four people: Joe Edge, Connie Wilson, Scott Hudson and Debbie van Tuyll. Between them, they pretty much represent the middle of the political road. Those who lean more liberal pretty much balance out those who lean more conservative, an important point because any published editorial has to have unanimous approval of the Editorial Board. If one member votes to reject an editorial, it’s rejected. Or reworked until all members are comfortable with it.
That’s the a reason that you see very few editorials in The Augusta Press. Most proposed editorials haven’t cut the mustard.
Sure, we have opinion columnists who write whatever is on their minds, but there is a big difference between an opinion column and an editorial.
An opinion column only speaks for one person’s opinion. An editorial speaks the opinion of the leadership of the newspaper, thus the use of “I” in columns and “we” in editorials.
During the formation of The Augusta Press, the founders decided the paper’s editorial voice should never lend itself to being an arm of any type of propaganda, not that of a political party, a partisan group or a single individual with heavily biased opinions.
Rather, it was set in stone even before the paper began publication that any opinion published as that of The Augusta Press has to be the unanimous opinion of the editorial board which consists of the chief financial officer, publisher, executive editor and editorial page editor.
Editorials can only be written on public issues after they have been covered by the paper’s news department. They cannot be just any random political topic. They must be based on stories that are relevant to the Augusta area that have been published by our journalists.
Often, the debate is spirited, and occasionally, the board deadlocks on an issue, but we know not to set the table on fire and walk away. We have always (so far) come to a consensus on issues we agree are important to our community.
Sometimes editorials are scrapped, but never out of fear or to show favor; at times we simply feel the public has enough information on an issue, and our opinion is not needed.
Since our publication began in January, we have published thousands of stories and columns. Less than one percent of our content appears in the form of an editorial. This is not because we fear to publish opinion but because we believe that news stories are far more valuable to our readers in the long run.
That is not to diminish the role of an editorial board. The members will always offer their opinion when they believe they have something relevant to say beyond the facts they’ve already published.
We aim for the highest standards of credibility for our newspaper. That means we work hard to meet the highest of standards of journalism. We remain devoted to doing our best to provide readers with the truth so that when we publish an opinion, our readers know we come correct and grounded in fact.
