We hate to call attention to one page of The Daily, but things work a little differently on page 4 every day.
The opinion page is separate from the rest of the newspaper. It is crucial that our readers know why, especially in the days preceding elections.
Unless they run columns, which are specifically marked as such, the news, sports and arts and entertainment sections report news in an unbiased way so that you, the reader, can make your own decisions about issues.
There is a credo in journalism, taught from the very first journalism classes, that reporting should be without bias. Reporters are even asked to not put political bumper stickers on their cars, wear political t-shirts or do anything that makes them appear to have bias on issues.
For the opinion staff, though, that is not the case.
There is bias on the opinion page. That is the point.
Opinion columns give readers an opportunity to make decisions based on the well-informed, but definitely biased, ideas presented by the opinion columnists.
The opinion page is supposed to have one-sided columns, but we strive for a sense of balance overall with a large staff with diverse opinions.
Opinion columnists are not allowed to write stories for other sections of the newspaper, just as reporters are not supposed to write for the opinion page.
Each day’s Our View, like the one you are reading, is The Daily’s stance on an issue.
The Our View is the viewpoint of a group of students — The Daily’s section editors and editor-in-chief — who come to a majority consensus about the issues we think are the most important to students.
That’s not to say there is not dissent — there usually is — but the Our View represents the majority view.
Every day, we have a group discussion with eight to 12 people. Once everyone reaches a consensus, two or more people collaborate during the writing process.
The Our View will be used in the coming days to endorse candidates running for offices.
Endorsements are not written to tell you who to vote for, but they are our way of giving back to our community by providing the best and most important perspective we can so potential voters can have it in mind when they go to the voting booth.
Newspapers have a long history of endorsements, and we definitely are not alone in endorsing candidates.
Newspapers from The Oklahoman — which supported Sen. John McCain for president — to The New York Times — which supported Sen. Barack Obama — all publish endorsements.
We will have carefully considered all viewpoints before writing ours this week.
We know not everyone will agree with what we put on this page, but that is a good thing. We only hope to inspire intelligent discussion and a forum in which readers can discuss a variety of issues and viewpoints.
We encourage you to interact with our columns and editorials. Write letters to the editor. Comment on columns on www.OUDaily.com. Let us know what you think.
But, please, do not say we are biased on this page. We know.
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
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diggs 3 years, 7 months ago
I can almost guarantee that every endorsement will be for a Democrat. After all, the Daily has run almost nothing positive about the McCain campaign.
Oh well, if I turned to the Daily for insightful political reporting I would be pretty dumb. The Daily always endorses those who lean furthest to the left. I expect this election season to be no different.
eightbitgirl 3 years, 7 months ago
I'm sure that if there were positives to report about the McCain campaign, they'd be reported. As it is, he has alienated those of us who would have voted for him in prior elections. He is not even close to the "maverick" he was back when I was eighteen years old, and his baffling selection of Sarah Palin cemented my vote for the other candidate. Perhaps running a campaign based on rehashed non-issues that Clinton had already assaulted Obama with was not the greatest of ideas. If John McCain lives to see another election, maybe he shouldn't hire the same campaign managers who smeared him to bejesus and back in 2000.
kdbp1213 3 years, 7 months ago
you-all think the Oklahoman is a newspaper? fish-wrap at best......