The Dallas Morning News DallasNews.com _ Wednesday, October 10, 2007 Page 1 Community opinions Opinion on the web In addition to the main editorial and op-ed pages, we publish Community Opinions in dallasnews.com/opinion the Metro section. Some of these pages Wouldn’t it be great if there were a single Web page that collected that include staff-written editorials on important top-shelf opinion journalism and posted links to, say, the top dozen or local issues, but the forum is highly more best reads each day? Wouldn’t it be great if this site identified interactive, with features such as Sounding The Big Story each day and linked to several smart perspectives on that Off, a weekly e-mail question of the week story, irrespective of source or format, to give you a succinct picture of that takes the temperature of readers on a the range of debate? Well, dear reader, that site exists, produced by variety of issues. The backbone is a members of your very own Dallas Morning News editorial board. In collection of 82 Voices volunteers, regular addition to The Big Story, our Opinion front page links you to other folks who write monthly columns for must-reads from the Web about a wide variety of hot topics, with one-year stints. Find out more by reading special emphasis on Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth. Try it once, and we Sunday’s page inside your Metro section. believe it will become a well-worn bookmark in your browser. dallasnews.com/opinion. Viewpoints

BLOGS Page Editorial board members get warmed up by airing their theories, arguments and peeves on six dallasnews.com blogs. They often butt heads on hy is it called the op-ed subjects ranging from transportation to energy, and page? Because it appears those discussion can later end up as published W opposite the editorial page. editorials. Readers can watch the debate unfold and We call our op-ed page Viewpoints, even join the conversation at but consider it a virtual public square. dallasnews.com/opinion/blogs. It’s a meeting place of provocative, diverse ideas, particularly ideas and voices other than our own. Like the Editorial page, everything on Viewpoints is, by definition, SYNDICATED & GUEST opinionated. COLUMNS Making the picks for this page is Syndicated columnists are those tough. We review about 300 writers whose expertise has won manuscripts of all political and them the opportunity to be cultural stripes daily. That includes published in multiple newspapers work by our staff writers, nationally nationwide — for instance, Charles syndicated columnists and writers Krauthammer of The Washington who are making names for themselves Post, Leonard Pitts at The Miami online. We also publish the opinions of Herald, Kathleen Parker with The people who can write with authority Post Writers Group. We pick from on whatever’s at the top of the issues the best each day, with an eye heap. Some of those writers contact toward rotating among readers’ us; other times we seek their expertise. favorites. Sometimes we offer excerpts from Also published are those “guest speeches, blogs or new books. columnists,” including advocates, Occasionally we present opinion in the experts or just regular readers who form of graphics and photos. are moved to submit columns on a Increasingly, Viewpoints is seeking local, state or global topic. out local voices, particularly on hotly disputed North Texas issues. Some are well-known names in the community. Some of the best writing comes from “just plain folks.” Our thinking is that the greater diversity of opinion that we print in Viewpoints and in Letters, the more well informed our editorials will be. The Editorial staff keeps careful month-by-month records to make certain that the Viewpoints and Points pages offer a fair sampling of ideological points of view. Those records show that the department published about 1,400 columns in 2010, and the balance between liberal and conservative columnists varied by less than one percent. Editor Sharon Grigsby makes the selections for this page and in the past year has published dozens of new local writers. What is she looking for? Passion and persuasiveness. Have something fresh to say? Make your best case in 600 words or so, and send it to viewpoints@ dallasnews.com. Meet you here tomorrow for the latest debate.

SHARON GRIGSBY POINTS Deputy editorial page editor, 54 WEEKLY Sharon oversees Points is the Sunday COLUMNISTS opinion and analysis the Editorial A columnist’s byline section of The Dallas Department’s matters, and ours Morning News. Like the daily day-to-day have their bent-screw pages, Points features operations and topics, about which editorials, op-ed columns leads the "Bridging they can write with and the expanded letters Dallas’ North-South Gap" project, style and stamina. section so popular with begun in 2007 to advocate for the readers. But Points is also Here’s their schedule: southern half of the city and narrow the place to find sharply the opportunity gaps between it and Tuesday: written, in-depth analysis of the north. A selection of work from William McKenzie current events and trends, the project was awarded the 2010 Wednesday: as well as eclectic and Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Mark Davis unconventional takes on Sharon’s Dallas roots reach back to Every other issues from the world of 1980, when she joined the DMN Thursday: politics, ethics and morality, newsroom after working at Carl Leubsdorf pop culture, foreign affairs, newspapers in New York and Detroit. technology, the arts and, She’s a graduate of Baylor, where she most of all, dispatches from first stirred things up with her the front lines of the culture editorial writing — and met her war. Points aims to be a fun, husband — at the student newspaper. stylish read for intellectually She and Clay, also a DMN journalist, engaged people. are the parents of two adult sons. E-mail [email protected]

JIM MITCHELL TOD ROBBERSON JARRETT RUSH NICOLE STOCKDALE BETSY SIMNACHER Editorial writer, 56 Editorial writer, 54 Presentation editor, 37 Assistant editorial page editor, 33 Content coordinator, 59 Jim has been with Tod is passionate Jarrett’s job is to Despite being the A former journalism The News since about international work with Sharon youngest member instructor, married 1984, joining the issues, having spent and Nicole to of the board, Nicole to Metro reporter editorial board in a quarter-century as conceive and assures you that she Joe Simnacher and 1998. His specialty is a correspondent present 18 layouts doesn’t get all her the mother of two business and and editor covering each week that news from The Daily sons, Betsy is the economics, but he’s been known to Latin America, the Middle East, Asia accurately and attractively reflect our Show; she watches The Colbert copy editor and page designer for the craft editorials on topics as diverse as and Europe. He likes fixing things and content. Jarrett is a child of Belo. After Report, too. She selects and edits the Community Opinions pages and the the Wright amendment battle, finding creative solutions to persistent college he joined the staff at the content for Points, the Sunday Letters. emerging technologies, international problems, whether it’s peace in Iraq or Arlington Morning News, then moved to commentary section, and also works BONNIE BISHOP AIDS policy, city politics and cultural a leaky water pipe over the bathroom the news desk at the big newspaper with Jarrett and Sharon to bring Assistant to the editor, 51 and societal shifts. Jim graduated from sink. He’s an avid tennis player. His wife, downtown. He finally found the energy to our content and visuals. She Loyola University, earned a master’s a theater director, and 16-year-old perfect girl, Gina, who loves baseball joined the editorial board in 2006 after Bonnie is your first degree in journalism from actress daughter keep him busy on the and can tolerate his devotion to the seven years as a copy editor. Nicole contact when you Northwestern University and attended Dallas stage scene. Tod’s favorite novel sport, the Kansas City Royals and recently moved from downtown to an call our department. business and economics workshops. is Ken Kesey’s Sometimes a Great George Brett. She’s a teacher in incredible neighborhood in north Oak She recently Meeting Nelson Mandela in South Notion, about a tough Oregon logging Mesquite. Though their hearts remain Cliff, where she lives with her husband, celebrated 25 years Africa was his most unforgettable family that overcomes adversity and in downtown, they now live in Garland Corbett, and newborn daughter, with the News and is career moment. refuses to “give a inch.” with their dog, Molly. Maren. still curious about life, spirituality and people. She is the proud parent of two E-mail [email protected] E-mail [email protected] E-mail [email protected] E-mail [email protected] very interesting young adults.