Welcome to our best

IT'S A PLEASURE to welcome you to this 10-year anthology edition of some of the best of The Masthead pieces. As you wander through these pages, edited so ably by immediate past president Sue Ryon, you'll be struck by the variety of the material.

Here, pieces range from earnest debates over newspaper ethics, performance and relevance, to the courageous story of past president Brian Dickinson's battle against Lou Gehrig's Disease, to editors' jousts with the publishers, to the opening of editorial board meetings to the public, to Nancy Q. Keefe's description of an editorial board meeting as a lively dinner party discussion.

You'll learn how little, or how much, you are paid compared to others who were surveyed by David Klement, editorial page editor of The Bradenton Herald in Florida.

Revisit the debate over the decision by the St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial page not to run editorials every day. Listen to Seattle Times editorial page editor Mindy Cameron's eloquent defense of civility on the editorial page.

Gene Owens, then of the Roanoke Times & World News, writes with great passion about his decision to leave the nuts-and-bolts world of journalism to pursue more spiritual ideas in a religious calling he felt very deeply.

You'll have fun reading these articles over the next several months. Of that, I'm sure.

You'll also learn many facts and find out not just the interesting views of the writers, but also something about their personal experiences at NCEW and elsewhere.

For example, you'll discover that Stein Hauglid, editor of Dagens Naeringsliv in Oslo, comes all the way from Norway to NCEW conventions just to sing at the late-night sessions around Secretary Fred Fiske's piano. Stein's publisher will be surprised to learn that information.

And Virgil L. Swing, retired editorial page editor in Duluth, learned at a convention that Cal Thomas, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of syndicated columnists, was an affable and pleasant fellow, utterly gracious and charming. Tell that to Bill Clinton.

Those of you who missed the Lexington, Ky., convention will learn that the nocturnal fire drill there amply tested the patience, not to mention the nerve ends, of convention attendees. I was staying on the 12th floor, thank you very much. I still remember Keith Runyon, wing-tip shoes and all, looking just as professorial and sartorially splendid as he does when moderating panel discussions at more civilized hours.

Paul Greenberg, a man of vigorous ideas, writes with regret about the decline of good thinking in the written word and the attempts to cover up that flaw with colorful, stylistic language. He reminds us all that before they write well, editorial writers must first think well.

You will find a welcome change in perspective from the pens and minds of TV editorialists.

There is plenty of material here for tempests, serene musings, witty observations, militant professionalism, and just plain fun.

What strikes me about this collection is the great range of observations and opinions from people of diverse ages, backgrounds, colors, and regions of the country. This collection of writing is authoritative without being stodgy, earnest but jocular, committed to excellence but cognizant of everyday pitfalls.

Read these pieces at your leisure and you will see that the people of NCEW are an interesting lot who remain committed to the basic principles of the organization spelled out in the statement adopted at the Philadelphia convention in 1975. The first two sentences of that statement read:

"Editorial writing is more than another way of making money. It is a profession devoted to the public welfare and to public service."

Please enjoy this publication and continue to work within NCEW for better editorial pages and broadcasts from all over the world.

NCEW president Morgan McGinley is editorial page editor of The Day in New London, Connecticut.

Copyright MASTHEAD National Conference of Editorial Writers Fall 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved