Local newspapers' editorial pages used to be a forum between writers, columnists and local residents for discussing community issues led by the newspaper. With the advent of the Internet though, local discussions have been relocated to blogs, online discussion boards, and community e-mail lists.

"Without giving up the traditional role of 'reporting the news and raising hell,'" the Internet conversation is another layer, said George Rede, editorial writer for The Portland Oregonian.

 "If you aren't doing it already, you have to do it. Given the changes in technology, there's no excuse for not going down some of these paths.

"The means to engage our readership have changed, and I think changed for the better."

On the first weekend of March in downtown L.A., editorial writers from a variety of US papers participated in the Knight Digital Media Center's "Best Practices : Editorial and Commentary in Cyberspace" conference, seeking the answer to the following : what is the ideal balance between editorial autonomy and community conversation?

Some newspaper editorial board leaders are now trying to boost the relevance of their opinion sections by adapting to Web 2.0. Readers of The Portland Oregonian nominated themselves for the paper's op-ed board last November, and the selected respondents wrote one opinion piece a week for 12 weeks, Those who wrote professionally and met deadlines became "citizen journalists" who could blog directly to the Oregonian. The paper carried out video interviews so readers could get to know them citizen journalists better.

The Kansas City Star has a forum to publish print-published letters as individual blog posts, enabling readers to reply unedited, unmonitored, and without a length limit.

While most editors welcome the ability for people to enter the conversation, some editors remain hesitant. Kevin Horrigan, Editorial Writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch believes the role of newspapers is "supposed to say which [opinion] is right."  Editorial Page Editor Gina Acosta of Washington Post remarks that "there's no interactivity between the editorial board and the community" because few readers are aware of who sits on the editorial board.

Nonetheless, one of print newspapers most venerable and established forms is adapting to the digital age - for the better.

Source: Online Journalism Review