In September, the Indiana Daily Student’s fall opinion editors reminded readers of the opinion section, a page full of columns and letters you could find tucked away in the last newspaper you read.
This section opens up a space for readers of the news to become writers, they said. By teasing out a current event’s implications, which an original witness might not have considered, a guest or staff writer can offer a savvy new way of reflecting on the contents of the news section.
But if you managed to grab a copy of last week’s national championship newspaper, you wouldn’t have found any opinions. The IDS printed an initial run of 10,000 copies, and not one included the IDS’s usual, dedicated opinion section.
We are Eric Cannon and Nadia Suben, the spring opinion editors. If you ask us, opinion’s absence was unfortunate because people are still reading our opinions — perhaps, last week more than ever.
On Jan. 20, “OPINION: Put the fish back, IU: I assure you they’re safe” became the IDS website’s 10th most-read page that day. As rare as it is for an opinion column to break the IDS’s top 10, “OPINION: Why are fans accusing IU of cheating” became the fourth most-read page two days later.
People still read opinions, and we still write them. In two weeks since this semester began, the opinion desk at the IDS has published nine columns. This is two fewer than the 11 columns the desk published in the first two weeks of the fall semester, but then, the desk is also half the size it was. While IDS opinion still lives, it’s smaller than ever — and it’s projected only to diminish more: Two of our writers are seniors, three are juniors and one is a sophomore.
With such a small team trying to cover so much, we can struggle to meet the output demands that our readership deserves in both quantity — are we publishing enough to represent an array of perspectives? — and breadth — are we publishing on everything that concerns readers? Last week, this proved to be the case. We published columns on IU’s victory in the national championship, Showalter Fountain’s disappearing fish and funding cuts to federal biological research, but not on the state-level effort to restore alumni-elected university trustees, school board election updates or IU’s first kosher and halal certified restaurant.
So, don’t let opinion die. Join the conversation.
Are you the argumentative friend? Are you a parent with thoughts? Do you have a hot take about IU’s grading policies? Do you have something to say about politics, science, social media or movies? Are you an alumnus who has advice? You — yes, you! — can become an IDS writer or send us a guest letter and help give a new life to the opinion desk.
IDS’s opinion desk is a platform to share your voice. Besides The Herald-Times, it is one of the only places you can find local voices speaking on local or university issues. Whether you have a general idea for a guest column or are ready to jump in as a staff contributor, we’re here to amplify what you have to say. We have open positions to write about advice, media and culture, student life and more. Feel free to contact us at opinion@idsnews.com — we can’t wait to hear from you.
