Look Out "Outlook"

They aren't exactly fighting words, but Susan Glasser, the newly-named editor in charge of The Washington Post's Sunday "Outlook" section has taken a shot across the bow of the blogosphere. In the article announcing her promotion today, Glasser provided a glimpse of what she's going to try and bring to the weekly commentary section:

"Outlook is one of the great pieces of real estate in the Sunday Washington Post, with a real storied tradition of helping shape the Washington conversation. … What I would hope to do is build on that and think of lots of exciting and interesting ways to update it for an Internet era when opinions and controversy have become the currency but reasoned commentary and analysis are sometimes missing from that new digital equation."

Knowing that not everyone will share her opinion (or mine), Public Eye asked some bloggers to weigh in on Glasser's comments. First to weigh in, BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis who tells PE:

"As if opinions and controversy have not always been the currency in Washington? Jeesh. And it is, I'm afraid, too typical of big-media editors to think that they are the ones to rise above rabble. The opinions -- or, if you prefer, commentary -- you hear are those of the citizens, the people, the democracy in action. I'd first recommend listening. And then I'd recommend getting down off the high horse to recognize that there is, indeed, a good deal of -- to use her words -- reasoned commentary and analysis as well as fact-checking and perspective to come from this digital rabble. I'd suggest that opening up the discussion into a true dialogue might be a better reaction to the potential of the new digital equation."

"Susan Glaser has a good point, and I hope she is earnest in running with it. Washington is still the place for political debate, and Susan now has the position of listening to it and helping to lend context and further the conversation. Opinion is creeping up on information, and we still need voices to help us separate the two. It sounds like she wants to put her ear to the ground, to the web, to the tube, to the papers – and start listening. Despite the rally cry of some bloggers, journalism is still very much about editing, and a smart editor who can take strings of discussion from a wide range of voices and weave a full dialogue will be successful and influential."

"First of all, I would love to write for 'Outlook.' I agree that it's some of the best real estate in the Post or in American newspapering. She has a great job. But if I were going to describe the section's competitive advantage, I don't think I would rely on 'reason' to capture what the Post has and the online world lacks. I think it's interesting that Susan Glasser does. I'd go with, 'we can pull into the digital equation the movers and shakers and people with standing who also have insight' or something like that. It might also be wise for Glasser to recognize -- and perhaps she does -- that in many ways the standards for opinion and commentary have gone up with the increased competition, the wider variety of voices and styles, and the simple fact that all opinion pages are now equidistant from the online reader. It's a good idea to update the section; it would be better to upgrade it for the Net era."

"I think Glasser hit the nail on the head. In this digital age, it's very easy to scream an opinion, but it's not very easy to make sense of all the screaming. That's what Outlook should be for. But at the same time, I hope Outlook in print doesn't yearn to become too Webby; on Sunday mornings, I'm looking for thoughtful, nuanced, eye-opening commentary, not a blog entry.

Come to think of it, maybe we need an Outlook on the Web every day ..."