This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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George Will is the most widely syndicated newspaper opinion columnist in America, and most newspaper editorial pages run more conservative columnists than liberal ones. Does that mean the notion of "the liberal media" is a myth?
Media Matters thinks so. A liberal media watchdog group that focuses on "conservative misinformation' in the U.S. press, media matters claims that 60 percent of newspapers print more conservative columnists than liberal ones. Twenty percent print more liberal columnists, and 20 percent are balanced. (News story here.)
We dropped George Will last year and replaced him with conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, mainly because we felt Parker's writing style was more accessible. Will is undeniably brilliant, but too often he sounds like an Oxford don. (in fact, he does hold a degree from Oxford).
Our columnist breakdown:
Conservatives: Kathleen Parker, Charles Krauthammer, Jonah Goldberg, David Brooks and occasionally Morton Kondracke.
Liberals: Ellen Goodman, Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Leonard Pitts, Eugene Robinson and occasionally Bob Herbert.
Middle of the road: Tom Friedman, David Broder.
Yes, I know: A survey of columnists on editorial pages doesn't prove anything about supposed bias in news coverage or editorial opinions among the big national newspapers that most often draw fire from the right.
