Wayne Laugesen on Newspaper Editorial Pages: Part 1
Nov 11, 2015Wayne Laugesen, award-winning journalist & Editorial Pages Editor at the Colorado Springs Gazette reveals the inner-workings of Newspapers and their Editorial Pages
“IF THEY [Reporters] ARE GOOD AT OBTAINING INFORMATION, THE WRITING SORT OF TAKES CARE OF ITSELF; SO LONG AS THEY HAVE A VERY BASIC SET OF SKILLS AND CAN PUT TOGETHER A SENTENCE AND A PARAGRAPH, THE REST IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF IF YOU CAN FIND THE INFORMATION.” — WAYNE LAUGESEN
In this episode, we speak with Wayne Laugesen, Editor of the Editorial Pages at the Colorado Springs Gazette. In this series, Wayne pulls back the curtain and reveals the inner workings of Newspapers and Editorial pages.
In Part 1, Wayne explains how editorial pages work and their day to day operations. We discuss how newspapers have stayed relevant in the new media age. We also learn lessons from Wayne’s long career as a journalist, including his role in developing “Commando Journalism”
Coming up in Part 2, Wayne gives candidates and causes unprecedented insight into how Editorial Board Interview process. He lays out just how the Ed Board prepares for the interview and how the interviewee should prepare. Wayne provides invaluable advice on how to conduct yourself during the interview. This truly is a one-of-a-kind resource for “How to Ace Your Newspaper Endorsement Interview”
All in all, we think you will find both Parts 1 and 2 of this series on Newspaper Editorial Pages to be very unique and highly informative. We hope you enjoy it.
Show Notes:
- Check out Wayne Laugesen’s Bio [Here]
- Check out The Colorado Springs Gazette’s Editorial Pages [Here]
- Wayne Laugesen on Twitter [Here]
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Wayne got his start in Journalism
- First Job: Internship at Newsweek in Washington, D.C.
- Beat Reporter: Salina Journal
- Creating “Commando Journalism”
- Wayne is credited with creating “Commando Journalism”
- It is a form of Opinion Journalism, Wayne prefers to call “Activist Journalism”
- Example: Taught women gun safety to defend themselves against a serial rapist in Boulder, CO
- Example: Battle with Historical Society, leading to paint windows being destroyed and the coining of the phrase “commando journalism”
- Advice for Aspiring Journalists
- Journalism is a calling
- Information gathering is the key to effective journalism
- Don’t be afraid to ask “stupid questions”
- Building the story out from your information/research is far more important than your writing skills
- Full immersion helps reporters develop an understanding on what they are reporting
- General reporting across multiple beats helps reporters develop an overall understanding of what they are covering
- Ability to learn across all fields is very helpful
- How the Media has Changed
- Research used to take days and weeks, now it takes seconds
- Newspapers were like public utilities
- Newspapers used to have a lock on dissemination of information
- Now, newspapers are the choice of a consumer
- Newspapers are doing better than people expected, because they are connected to communities
- How Wayne ended up in Opinion Journalism
- Wayne always had an interest
- Wayne’s mentor, M. Stanton Evans, suggested that to go into opinion journalism requires working in the trenches long enough to have an opinion worth reading
- Wayne worked his way through several traditional and alternative journalism jobs before ending up in opinion journalism at the Colorado Springs Gazette
- Day-to-Day on an Editorial Board
- At they Gazette, they have a 5 member board, which is fairly typical
- Board Members are in constant communication, typically via email
- Ideas for topics form based on news of the day
- The Editor seeks the opinions of the board and works to form a consensus
- The editorial is written by one or two members who work to include the input of the entire board
- How are Editorial Boards Formed?
- Each page is different
- Can Include
- Editorial page editor
- Publisher
- Community Members
- News Page Editors
- How is the editorial writing done?
- By default, Wayne writes the editorial but there is another editorial page writer that also writes some of the editorials
- Larger papers have an editorial writing staff that writes their editorials for the upcoming day
- The Goal of an Editorial Page
- Start or continue a community conversation of the issue
- How does publishing of Letters to the Editor work?
- The Gazette is receiving more Letters to the Editor than ever
- Try to strike a balance in content (both in letters and columns)
- How do you see editorial pages changing with more technology?
- The principles won’t change
- The technology and interaction will improve
- Ed Board’s Preparation for an Editorial Board Endorsement Interview
- Research on the candidate
- Board Meeting to discuss issues and questions
- Create interview agenda
- Interview the candidate
- Advice for political candidates
- Be Bold
- Have Courage of Convictions
- Make Your Case
- It helps to make your pitch with the board even if they disagree with you on an issue. You earn their respect.
Please check out Part 2 where Wayne Laugesen goes further in depth on how candidates seeking a newspaper’s endorsement or organizations seeking the support of a newspaper’s editorial page can effectively make their case during an editorial board interview.
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