An opinion page is a newspaper’s most democratic and public section. Some staff columnists report and reflect on the issues of the day, but an opinion page is also the part of a newspaper where anyone can write.
Letters to the editor allow any reader to chime in or to respond to a newspaper’s coverage. My column, which aims to represent the readership, runs on the Opinion page. And anyone can submit guest columns. Done right, an opinion page should feature a vast range of voices; it should paint a daily portrait of public opinion at the University.
The Cavalier Daily has done an admirable job of assembling a lineup of staff columnists whose opinions span political and social spectra and cultivate thought on a variety of subjects. Recent columns have covered the topics of prison education, the lack of creativity on Grounds, a push to disregard Columbus Day and ad blockers. With that sort of mix, every reader is likely to find something of interest and, more important, something he hasn’t thought about much. And, this semester, the paper has launched a partnership with the Black Student Alliance that promotes black columnists.
But the section relies heavily on its staff columnists for content; its offerings would be richer if it included more guest columns and letters to the editor. Guest columns offer variety to a page. Perhaps a writer is an expert on or has a passion for a particular topic but doesn’t want a permanent job as a pundit; his take would still be worthwhile to readers. Staff columnists can get old — even the best sometimes struggle to find new things to say, especially when their columns involve little or no reporting — but guest columnists offer new breath to an opinion section. Often, the best writing comes from momentary inspiration that a regular columnist can’t chance upon every week.
A strong slate of guest columns also helps cement a newspaper’s role as a hub of public discourse. If your friend has written a column in today’s paper, you’re more likely to read and discuss it. More writers means more friends, more topics and more discussion. It’s hard for readers to feel too alienated by a publication to which they might contribute.
So far this semester, The Cavalier Daily has run only five guest columns and one letter.
Executive Editor Dani Bernstein said she receives fairly few submissions of guest columns and still fewer letters to the editor, though she generally wants to put submissions into print. In a student body of almost 16,000 — and with many more graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff and others with a vested interest in U.Va. — there shouldn’t be a lack of people with ideas to publish. The Cavalier Daily should be a centerpiece of any breakfast conversation on Grounds, or a solitary breakfaster’s companion — what person with thoughts worth airing wouldn’t want to write for such a publication?
Cavalier Daily editors should redouble their efforts to solicit a wide range and greater number of guest columns. They should aim to cultivate a general expectation that it is normal — and exciting — to write on a one-shot basis for a paper that thousands of people will read and discuss. And readers should embrace that opportunity and allow The Cavalier Daily to play its rightful essential role in campus discourse.
Julia Fisher is the Public Editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @CDPublicEditor.
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