Are editorials still relevant during these changing times?
In an age when almost everybody has an opinion and can very easily express these in every manner and platform possible, does the mighty editorial still have a place?
The editorial, of course, is that piece occupying a prominent place in the opinion section of a newspaper – at least in its printed copy.
It runs without a byline. There is no credit to the writer because it is supposed to be a news organization’s institutional position on the burning issues of the day.
I spent the past year and a half working on an academic paper that looked into the editorials of four broadsheets in the Philippines.
This paper was finally published last month by the PCS Review, the refereed journal of the Philippine Communication Society.
The journal can be accessed via the PCS web site, https://www.philscomsoc.org/pcs-review-2023.
I narrowed the scope to the 90-day election period in 2022.
I wanted to see what themes the four newspapers deemed most worthy to be written about during a crucial point in Philippine history.
I also looked at how these top issues were framed, and whether such framing was independent of the newspaper that published the editorials.
Lastly, I spoke with some newsroom personalities directly involved in the daily production of editorials.
The study covered 336 editorials published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, the Manila Standard, and the Manila Times published between February 8, 2022 and May 7, 2022.
I found that the top five topics were the election, the economy, foreign affairs and policy, health, and peace and order.
Next, I looked into how each of these themes were framed, guided by a previous study of Dutch scholars Holli Semetko and Patti Valkenburg.
These five frames were attribution of responsibility, morality, conflict, human interest, and the economy.
I found that different themes had different dominant frames.
Editorials on the election, the economy, and health were framed as an attribution of responsibility – who was responsible for the problem, and for solving that problem.
It might be tempting to conclude otherwise, but in fact the election-themed editorials centered on the conduct of elections in general, instead of pushing for any one candidate in particular.
They reminded the people of the obligation to vote, and to ensure that elections are conducted in an honest and orderly manner.
For foreign affairs and policy-themed editorials, conflict was, quite predictably, the most dominant theme.
This was also the time when Russia first invaded Ukraine. The conflict frame identifies opposing groups or parties in a given situation.
Meanwhile, for peace and order editorials – those that dealt with law enforcement issues like the drug war – the human interest frame was strong. This frame provides a human face to the issue being discussed.
Only editorials under the peace and order theme were found to be framed independently of the newspaper of publication.
For the four other dominant themes, the frame used was found to be linked or related, in varying degrees, to the broadsheets that published them.
I interviewed five journalists and newsroom managers who were, or are still, involved in the editorial production process. They knew their readers: not the majority of Filipinos but policy- and decision-makers in society.
The newspapers employed different processes in producing what is supposed to be a collegial position on the most pressing current events.
Some processes were more linear than the others, others were more consultative, while others were more cognizant of or upfront about the realities in the newspaper industry.
Newspapers, after all, do have owners with political or business interests, and these factors have to be taken into consideration without negating the primary purpose of journalism and compromising the truth.
There used to be a time when the editorial was deemed the heart and soul of the newspaper and was placed prominently — a visual cue to the importance and centrality of the piece.
Today’s news websites give little clue to this.
The interviewees agreed that times have changed, and that the might of the editorial is now challenged, first by the environment, and second, because newspapers themselves tend to come up with them for the sake of putting out an editorial on a daily basis.
This instead of thoughtfully and carefully crafting a well-researched and compellingly written opinion piece, day after day.
Still, the democratization of the opinion page – which includes editorials and opinion columns – should be a good thing.
The opinion writers’ gallery of elderly, often grumpy, professionally established gentlemen, some heady with their self-importance should become inclusive.
The opinion page should make writers deliberate and purposeful.
What will I write about?
What is my distinct voice?
What value will I add to the conversation?
Equally important: do I practice the basics of good writing and not make my reader weep?
It should encourage readers to think critically and not simply parrot a popular line of thought.
For these reasons, the editorial as part of the marketplace of opinion should take on a new importance, in an attempt to distinguish itself from other writing, and to remind readers why traditional media should co-exist with — and not be supplanted by – developments in the field.
(Adelle Chua is an assistant professor of journalism at the UP College of Mass Communication. She was opinion editor and columnist for this newspaper for 15 years.)