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Opinion: Who We Are, What We Do, and Why

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Today is an important milestone in the evolution of the Opinion section -- we’re moving up to the newly redesigned A section of the newspaper. To mark the occasion we have used the opportunity to step back and reintroduce ourselves to you, shed a bit of light on what we do, how we do it, and why. Ever wonder about the editorial board’s philosophy? Wonder no more (or at least less) by reading our Mission Statement. Here’s an excerpt:

We reject overreaching moves by public authorities to control the culture or private mores. Citizens’ right to privacy, to decide for themselves how best to lead their lives, is fundamental. It is in keeping with our Western roots to champion individual autonomy and the freedom of conscience.

Much more where that came from. There’s also an explanation of how we arrive at our (usually) three unsigned editorials per day. Excerpt:

The writing of editorials is a team effort; they aren’t columns reflecting any one person’s viewpoint. A member of the board (editors included) can’t write an editorial endorsing a position in the absence of consensus among the group. That is not to say we are a full democracy. Editor Andres Martinez and Deputy Editor Michael Newman have a bigger say, especially in wielding a veto, and both report directly to the publisher, who has an even bigger say.

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And you can, for the first time, meet the members of the editorial board, find out what they cover and where they’ve been. And what of the Op-Ed side of the page? Read an explanation from Op-Ed Editor Nicholas Goldberg. Excerpt:

Sometimes we get e-mails complaining that the pieces we’ve run are biased. To which we reply: Of course they are! Unlike the articles in our news pages (where reporters endeavor to be objective), our articles are opinion pieces; bias and a point of view are expected. In that sense, they’re like the editorials that appear on the opposite side of the page (Op-Ed, get it?). [...] People often want to know whether we seek balance on the page. The answer, as best I can give it, is this: We want a page that is politically balanced over time — not leaning too heavily to the left or the right — but we don’t monitor it day to day, or count Democrats versus Republicans. Similarly, we seek diversity of thought and diversity of contributors — we want provocative ideas from people of all races, genders, religions, etc. — but again, we don’t try to balance the number of women to men on every single page.

And our 10 regular Op-Ed columnists each re-introduce themselves to you. Here, for example, is a taste of Joel Stein:

Basically, what I do is the opposite of “Seinfeld”: I turn something into nothing. To get that perspective, I try to find the small angle on the story no one has looked at. My column is not a place for readers to pick up facts and figures to bolster your already ingrained arguments. And that’s only partly because finding facts and figures takes a lot of work.

And finally, Letters Editor Julie Ryan Green announces that the newly designed page will add more space for letters (at the expense of editorials), and explains how she goes about her work. Excerpt:

On any particular topic, we try to represent the volume and variety of opinions expressed by our mail, not necessarily an even number of pro and con positions. Every day, an average of 800 readers share their thoughts with us. We can print only a dozen or so letters daily, but about a year ago we began to share more of our readers’ comments by posting additional letters online at latimes.com/letters. How can you improve your chances of getting published? Be succinct; we seldom publish letters of more than 150 words. Your letter also should be exclusive to The Times and must include where you live and provide a daytime phone number for verification purposes.

To pre-emptively answer one question, no, the motivation for this episode of public confession has nothing to do with the appointment of a new publisher, nor is it part of the Manhappenin’ Beach Spring Street Project. We just wanted to lay our cards on the table, answer questions we’re asked daily, and stick it online for future reference. Let us know what you think!

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