The column I might have written

The column I might have written

Steven R. Berryman

[January 6, 2012 for my blog, MediaHooker.org]

This Friday is an especially strange today for me,

separated from an ongoing conversation with readers

of The Frederick News-Post. As the new Editorial

page editor Cliff Cumber took it upon himself to do

away with all weekly columns; my voice has been

successfully muted.

Returning the resulting Emails and assimilating the

online comments will not be a necessary part of this

day.

In its place was a – not so local – column by The Los

Angeles Times; not a local citizen-journalist.

In fairness, weekly columnists were offered the opportunity

to post up to two columns a month. This arrangement held

little comfort for me, as I know that readers want weekly

attention to their thought processes, and lose out to

random journaling.

Ironically, the Frederick News-Post – a very long standing

and award winning paper for it’s size/geographics – is a

DAILY newspaper. One would assume that regular contact

with readers would be more respected; why do they print

a new “Editorial” opinion piece every day?

My argument is simply that the minimum continuity with

an audience of readers is once a week. A writer/reader relationship

– involving a learning curve – is otherwise impossible.

Examples of newspapers with regular weekly columns include: The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Gazette, The Baltimore Sun, and The Examiner.

The impact of having random columns – even with a loose monthly schedule – is exactly like publishing extra letters to the editor every day. My reading says that the paper was already doing that…

And what of the papers approved description of its own column writers, “citizen-journalists?”

Think about it. Quite demeaning, really, as are we not citizens already? Or is this some attempt to set up a firewall between the News-Post corporately and its contract-basis writers?

As for me, a professional writer I was not (as defined by payment for prose) before doing my Friday FNP column. I did write a weekly Monday column – hundreds - for www.TheTentacle.com since 2007; the stable of authors assembled by John Ashbury is certainly a fine association.

My association with the FNP began upon the urging of radio talk show friend Bob Miller of WFMD am930, who suggested I follow up on the ad by then editor Lee Permenter for a columnist to replace Katherine Heerbrandt; she had been writing three times a week; pretty daunting stuff! Fifty applied, and I got one of three weekly slots, along with Marta Mossburg and Barry Kissin.

I was no “citizen-journalist,” though.

My forte was in activism, with special attention to Frederick County, Maryland. Writing wasn’t for fun, it was for impact.

At the time that I had signed on to the paper, my experience base was what had set me up: I had spearheaded Citizens for Walkersville, in opposition to the Ahmadiyya Muslim rec center, Represented www.HelpSaveMaryland.org the largest and most successful anti-Illegal group in Maryland, participated in local GOP campaigns, acted in a leadership capacity for the local Tea Party effort, was a frequent contributor on WFMD radio call-in shows, run a large home owners association, and had over 5,000 facebook contacts amassed. My blog is read worldwide.

My placement weekly was no accident. I easily slid into a – friend – “Blaine Young styled” weekly column. It wasn’t about telling folks what to think; it was to GET people to think! No spoon feeding here, you guys….just keep movin’ along…

An internal conflict or two within a column was a fun trap to set; it was used “liberally.”

So my decision was to “opt out” of the deal for a couple of random monthly columns, as it seems too much like pissing in the wind to me, compared with having any real impact.

I also feel that the demise of weekly columns makes The Frederick News-Post a more passive pablum for an election year; hopefully not an advertising-driven decision.

But, life goes on, and we all make adjustments. Writers never go away.