Masthead 2012 Convention issue
New Oct. 4
Slavery still in U.S., just different
Slavery still flourishes everywhere, even "near here" in Florida, Ron Sodalter asserted. Francis Bok told what it was like to be seized as a child...
Security, diplomacy ... Iran again
The outcome of any Israeli or U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear program is highly unpredictable, but a decision is not urgent just now, according to...
Oct. 3
TV critic: cable niche-casting erodes trust
Eric Deggans, TV-media critic of the Tampa Bay Times and former Poynter Ethics fellow, told the AOJ convention in Orlando that a narrow ideological...
Terroristifying 'what-if' exercise
By Someone...* How would you cope if all your electricity-using devices suddenly died? What if everyone's devices and machines died? What if...
Sept. 24 through Oct. 1:
Climate change threatens U.S.
By Christian Trejbal Despite its seriousness, climate change is missing almost entirely from our national dialogue this election season, said the..
In member news: Association condition looking up, new shop-talk initiatives, new officers
Congressional politics? stink-o!
By Yvonne Beasley It�s dirty and negative. It exposes one�s family to public criticism. It just plain costs too much. That�s the real life of a...
Small nations need help
By Lois Kazakoff In a world where giant nations -- Brazil, Russia, India China -- dominate the rising socio-economic headlines, Tim Cullen is...
Partisanship destroying Congress
By Christian Trejbal Keynote speaker Mickey Edwards, a former Republican representative from Oklahoma and author of �The Parties Versus the People:...
Awards highlights at AOJ 2012
Bingham and Pulliam fellowships, annual column and opinion pages awards, 2 life memberships...
Hiroshima survivor stuns writers
By Amitabh Pal Every once in a while you hear a speech that completely blows you away. My colleagues and I experienced that feeling on Sept. 21 at...
Everglades irrevocably spoiled but partly recovering
How did the once "utterly worthless" River of Grass become an agricultural bounty, urbanized sprawl, national park, target of humans' "war on nature"...
Sept 19-22:
U.S. diplomacy challenged
By Tom Waseleski U.S. diplomacy faces unusually challenging situations with Syria and Iran, said three panelists with foreign experience in a...
4 big economies a mixed bag
By Bill McGoun All of the BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- are growing their economies with a greater government role than in the...
Interaction gets upbeat views
By Frank Partsch The future of opinion journalism will bring more efforts to engage the reader, providing interactive contacts and competing...
2 broadcasters get life memberships
Two veteran broadcasters, Margie Arons-Barron and Chuck Stokes, received AOJ's highest honor -- life membership -- at the Orlando convention. The...
We need politics for grown-ups!
By Lois Kazakoff James Bacchus says Americans need to grow up and do what the rest of the world is expecting us to do: lead on addressing the...
Presidential race, old hat new way
By Marjorie Arons-Barron Republicans never wanted a moderate to be their 2012 presidential nominee, but that�s what they got. In explaining to the...
Citizen journalism by actual journalists
This is Thea Joselow's spot-on motto for the Twitter and Facebook coverage of the AOJ 2012 convention in Orlando Sept. 20-22.
The convention hashtag is #AOJ2012.
regular monitor Thea @tjoselow
Saturday was @ScottMilfred
Masthead Summer 2012
Veteran and newcomer review 'Out of the News' book
Recent articles
- Pulliam Fellowship goes to Sandra Shea of Philly The Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing, to be presented at the AOJ convention Sept. 22, goes to Sandra Shea, editorial page editor of...
- Editors & writers again decry recently growing trend to eliminate newspaper election endorsements.
- by Bill McGoun (posted Sept. 12)
- Online polling and other research fables debunked, with guide to good poll coverage basics
- by John McClelland (posted Sept. 13)
Articles
For op-eds, or any newsroom diversity effort, give the gift of editing-mentoring.
By Richard Prince (June 2012, updated 8/24 and 9/8/2012 with ref to 0.5% major op-eds by Hispanics)
Spring 2012
Short contents: State Department briefings; Amazon shopping via AOJ; Doonesbury abortion cartoon flap; AOJ board matters; 1993-2009 Masthead articles.
Winter 2012
Short contents: Sunshine, robo-turf, endorsements, Civilitas update, leaving the digital cesspool, civic engagement, Statement of Principles, edit note, prior issues.
If you are an AOJ member and have lost your log-in or need a password re-set, please ask for help from manager Lisa Strohl at HQ [email protected]. If you are not a member, please take a look at the membershiplinks on the main page.To send the editor a brief email (without uninvited attachments, please) [email protected].
John McClelland was photographer-reporter, columnist, and various kinds of editor at community and mid-sized daily newspapers in the Midwest and South for 22 years; he has taught journalism at Roosevelt University in Chicago since 1989, now emeritus (mostly retired).
ABOUT THE MASTHEAD
The National Conference of Editorial Writers, born in 1947, began a mimeo journal in 1948. For most of the next five-plus decades, The Masthead was a quarterly magazine for members and subscribers (including several research libraries). The transition from print to online publication began in 2010 and continues with updating of this site under the organization's new name and broader focus, Association of Opinion Journalists, in 2012.
AOJ's high-quality magazine offers you some of the industry's most valuable writing about opinion writing - entertaining, provocative, always helpful. Its content is now available to anyone on this website. This is a site in transition.
The Masthead, published since 1948-49 by the National Conference of Editorial Writers, now the Association of Opinion Journalists. Spring 2012 issue published in stages April 24 to mid-May 2012, at http://opinionjournalists.org/masthead. (c) 2012 AOJ. This page posted 4/24/12 updated repeatedly; latest update 10/4/2012 at 5:22 p.m. EDT.
