An interesting article from William Raspberry of the Washington Post on column and opinion writing, questioning what kind of future it has.

Raspberry referes to Tom Friedman's book 'The World is Flat' which highlights the growing reach of the internet as a source of news and the fact that it has brought about "the easy access of ordinary people to both vast quantities of information and platforms from which to offer their opinions. " Raspberry worries that these developments may "make professional opinion-mongers relatively useless."

However the author simultaneously highlights specific qualities that opinion columnists can be relied on for in the face of the onslaught of the internet.

Firstly, he focuses on the specialised knowledge of columnists, asserting they are "the people you ought to read before moving to a new town or buying a new car or digital doodad."

Secondly, he draws attention to what he calls the "weeding out function" of the columnist. In comparison to the Internet, which Raspberry characterises as giving a "torrent of information", what is useful about columnists is that they "arrange the information for you -- not so much to tell you what to think as to tell you what, among thousands of options, you might want to think about."

Connected to the "weeding out function" is the "gatekeeping function" which Raspberry states has long been a task of news organisations; distinguishing between fact and rumour. This is a function also fulfilled by columnists and is "something the unchecked internet cannot always do."

Raspberry concludes by saying that columnists fulfill the following need: "a need to know what an intelligent conservative thinks about an issue or a candidate, just as we need to have the viewpoint of thoughtful liberals, worried housewives, stressed-out educators or retirees sitting on shrinking nest eggs."

Source: Washingtonpost.com