From institutional voice to blogging.(CONVENTION 2009)

"Don't fight it; build on it" seemed to be the message from panelists at the NCEW panel titled "From daily delivery to online: What it means for opinion writers."

Josh Awtry's rap-like presentation, delivered via rapid-fire PowerPoint to rhythmic music, suggested editorial writers focus on three key points in the Internet age. Write more, farm links, and "tell somebody you wrote it," exhorted the managing editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, who oversees the paper's online operations.

Ron Dzwonkowski, associate editor of the Detroit Free Press, argued that content matters and described how his paper sought to protect journalists (as opposed to noncontent-providing staffers) as it was forced into layoffs and to scale back home delivery to three days a week. The former editorial page editor described how the editorial board created a separate URL for editorial content online and involved certain "celebrity bloggers"--including the governor!--in its discussions online. Both moves are designed to increase the visibility of the newspaper's editorial content on the Web. Traffic on the new site is growing.

Quint Randle, associate professor of communication at BYU, said his research suggests that the Internet is best in providing data-driven or cognitive information whereas print versions of newspapers often are better at providing affective or emotive information. The latter category, he explained, would include long-form enterprise reporting, analysis, narrative journalism--information rich in detail and interpretation.

Randle, formerly of the Lansing State Journal in Michigan, said the nature of news is evolving and newspapers must evolve with it. Engaging readers is paramount, which is why blogging and other tools have become so prevalent: "We're in the conversation business:'

It's better to try something different--"crazy even"--than to try nothing at all, Randle argued, especially as technology advances: "We need to be offensive, not defensive." He suggested finding ways to "cooperate" with the Internet, to enhance the impact of what editorialists do by doing it in different presentations across platforms.

John Hughes, professor of communications at BYU and former editor of the Christian Science Monitor and the Deseret News, urged newspapers to adhere to sound ethics standards and to find ways to charge readers for content. Acknowledging that he feels he's "being dragged into the 21st century," he didn't offer many specifics regarding online or opinion writing.

Separate site for opinion

In response to questions, Dzwonkowski recounted how he had to convince his paper's leadership to assign Editorial its own Web designer. It had been hard to find opinion content on the paper's main Website, which was particularly frustrating for Dzwonkowski because he believed editorial content was a possible traffic draw. So he advocated for a separate site and prevailed. The goal is to get people to bookmark the opinion site (www.freep.com/ section/opinion).

The opinion site experiences its biggest traffic bumps when an editorial writer posts a "quick and dirty" editorial off a breaking news development and gets a link to it from the paper's breaking news story on the newspaper's main site. Those editorials can attract 200 to 300 comments, which Dzwonkowski argued shows that readers are engaging with the commentary. Some comments are particularly smart, and the editorial writer or editor will sometimes stir a key point raised by readers into the version of the editorial that appears the next day in the paper, enhancing the quality of the editorial that appears in print.

Detroit also makes frequent use of "e-mail blasts" promoting a specific blog post or editorial comment online to drive traffic to the new Website. This is an e-mail message sent to a group e-mail list comprised of e-mail addresses of every letter-to-the-editor writer in recent years. Dzwonkowski said he started collecting the e-mail addresses per a tip he picked up at a previous NCEW convention.

To underscore the importance of not just writing commentary of value but also getting the word out online that you've written something of value, Dzwonkowski quoted Suzanne Somers: "If you've got it, don't just flaunt it; bump it with a trumpet."

Pete Wasson, an editor at the Wausau Daily Herald in Wisconsin, asked the panelists how editors could avoid getting caught up short again by rapid technological changes and what they should be anticipating now to prepare them for the next 10 years.

Don't focus just on generating content, Randle suggested. Include developing ways to stimulate conversations around important issues and ways to aggregate smart commentary on your site: "Try a lot; see what sticks."

Keven Ann Willey is the editorial page editor for the Dallas Morning News. E-mail her at kwilley@dallasnews.com