From my understanding, we as journalists, are not allowed to publicly voice our concerns or stances on issues. In Ethics, we were told that while working for a publication, you are not allowed to even have a bumper sticker of the candidate you're voting for, much less campaign for them. If you're a sports fan, forget about wearing a shirt with the logo of your favorite team, because you may write about them in an unbiased fashion.
That all makes perfect sense, but I don't understand how any of this is applicable in column or op-ed writing. Donna explained that having a column is the ultimate achievement for most journalists, a chance to finally share your point of view. Is it such an honor because after all the years of having to stay objective and unbiased, you can finally have an opinion about something? I would also think that once your start column writing, you can never go back to just straight news writing because everyone definitely knows where you stand on issues.
Just another thing I am seeking enlightenment on.
nicely stated, Donna
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