Sunday, January 07, 2007
A call for local columnists
Dan Radmacher
Recent columns
- Heading back to the debate in Appalachia
- Redistricting process must be taken from pols
- A shutdown remains a very real possibility
- U.S. Navy Vets case argues for campaign limits
From the RoundTable blog
A couple of familiar faces will be missing from our commentary pages in the New Year. Monty Leitch, who has been writing a column for The Roanoke Times for 30 years, decided to retire her column at the end of 2006. And Jerry Fuhrman, a conservative blogger from Bland County, who started his column in September, decided that the weekly schedule turned writing into a chore instead of a joy. His last regular column ran Dec. 28.
Both Leitch and Fuhrman brought something valuable and different to this conversation. Leitch's slice-of-life columns were often a welcome change of pace from commentaries dominated by partisan politics. Fuhrman's unflinching and boisterous conservatism prompted plenty of response.
Those two faces are leaving, but we want to replace them with writers who will bring some of those same qualities -- and, no doubt, some different qualities -- to the discussion we try to foster on our commentary pages.
To borrow a trick from Time's Person of the Year, we want you. Yes, you. If you're reading this and thinking you're a pretty good writer with lots to say about local and regional issues, maybe from a perspective that we don't see every day, and you have the energy and time to write regularly -- then, yes, we want to see what you can offer.
Send in three recent samples of commentaries -- each around 700 to 750 words. Send them to me, along with a brief bio of yourself, at dan.radmacher@roanoke.com, or by regular mail to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, VA 24010. We'll accept submissions through Jan. 21.
Some cautions, and encouragement, to people thinking about applying: As Fuhrman found out, writing a weekly column isn't a cakewalk -- even for someone like him who writes frequent and often lengthy blog posts. In fact, our hope is to sign up a small stable of local commentators writing on a rotating basis so we can avoid that kind of burn out.
Often, the writing isn't as hard as figuring out what to write about. We want people who will write almost exclusively about local and regional topics, which will make it even more of a challenge.
Also, this is about fame, not fortune. We'll be offering a small payment for every column we publish, but this won't bump anybody up to another tax bracket.
Now for the encouragement: As all those bloggers out there have found out, expressing yourself is a lot of fun. And The Roanoke Times comes with an audience that makes those of any but the biggest national blogs pale in comparison.
It's one thing to pound your fist on the dashboard and yell at the guy on the radio or spar in the comments section of a blog (both activities I enjoy). But neither equals the satisfaction of crafting a convincing essay and presenting it to an audience of around a quarter of a million readers.
Oh, you won't convince everybody. For every e-mail you get exclaiming how brilliant and right you are, you'll get two or three from people who couldn't disagree more. But that's part of the fun. You'll know that you've engaged people, made them think and made them care enough to take the effort to write. That matters more than changing minds.
So, what kind of writers are we looking for? We want clear thinkers who can energetically articulate their points of view with a solid factual background -- again, on predominately local and regional issues.
If the response is good enough for us to sign up several columnists, we'd like a broad range of ideologies, but we'll be keeping a sharp eye out for thoughtful conservatives who can present views that differ from the editorial board. We're also interested in writers who aren't obsessed with day-to-day politics and can write transcendent pieces about life in the region.
Finally, we don't want to hear just from the Roanoke Valley. The Roanoke Times covers a broad circulation area, including the New River Valley, Bedford County, Grayson County and elsewhere. Anyone who lives in our circulation area is welcome to submit.
So, if you have something to say and think you have a talent for saying it, get to work. Remember, the deadline is Jan. 21.
Radmacher is the editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times.
