If newspaper editorial pages are to add any value in this anyone-can-publish era, that value will come from maintaining and defending a standard of truth. No discussion is ever improved by a deliberate misstatement of the facts. But the garbage that shows up on op-ed pages these days is full of it, and I'm not just talking about Ann Coulter.
From the Baltimore Sun, by telecom shills Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolf: "The 'neutral' proposal that companies like Google are touting will ensure that they never have to pay a dime no matter how much bandwidth they use ...."
Write this down: Google and Yahoo and every other information publisher, corporate or individual, all pay the telecoms for Internet connectivity. Google's SEC filing doesn't break out the Internet connectivity as a line item, but it is included in a $2.57 billion "cost of revenues" calculation.
Yet this "never have to pay a dime" lie shows up over and over in the press because editors aren't doing their jobs. They've lost sight of truth as a standard.
Editing in this era isn't about gatekeeping; bad information and good will flow around any pretend gatekeeper. But selecting and highlighting truth, and denouncing falsehood, is what I call the "trusted guide" role, and it's the key to creating journalistic value in an information-is-everywhere world.
We don't need a "forum page" just to create a forum; this world is full of conversational opportunities. We need a "forum page" to create and maintain a standard of value: conversation that is worth your and my time and attention. Conversation that is illuminating. Opinion and analysis that is rooted in truth, not in truthiness.