The difference between news, columns, and editorials

An explanation of the different kinds of articles the UP publishes.

Photo+by+Eston+Parker+III

Photo by Eston Parker III

Jessica Abramsky, News Editor

Due to feedback the UP received over the recent publication of The Editorial Board’s thoughts on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requests, we want to explain the different types of articles the University Press publishes. 

When we publish a story that reflects an opinion, it will be labeled as such in the headline. Any opinion article published by the UP does not reflect the opinion of the newsroom; it reflects the opinion of the author.

News, Student Life, and Sports

These sections are strictly news-based. News Editor Jessica Abramsky, Student Life Editor Melanie Gomez, and Sports Editor Cameron Priester operate fully news-based, factual sections. Any article tagged with news, student life, or sports is a journalistic, unbiased article. The information in these articles are reliable and have been verified by writers and editors to be factual.

Columns

Columns reflect the opinion of the writer, who is usually an editor, not the opinion of the UP newsroom. 

Here is an example of a column, recently published by Editor-in-Chief (EIC) Savannah Peifer when the UP’s Instagram comment section was flooded when we wrote about the “Ye is right” demonstrators in the Breezeway.

Editor’s Letter

An Editor’s Letter is written by the EIC and reflects the opinion of the EIC. It is meant to address issues. Savannah has written Editor’s Letters in the past that reflect her opinion on issues the newspaper faces. 

For example, Savannah wrote this letter when the university refused to fill a public records request for a reasonable amount of money based on the time it will take to compile the records and send them to us, electronically.

The goal is to inform readers of the struggles we are facing at any given time and continue to hold the university accountable for its actions.

Letter to the Editor

A Letter to the Editor is written by a reader and addressed to the EIC. It is a way for readers and members of the public to have their voices heard. The UP encourages people to write letters to the editor when they want to respond to an article or have their opinion heard on something we’ve recently published. With the author’s consent, we can consider these letters for publication. 

After publishing a news story about “Ye is right” demonstrators on the Breezeway, the UP received a Letter to the Editor, which we indeed published.

If you want to write a Letter to the Editor, email [email protected].

The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board operates outside of the UP newsroom and is an opinion piece by a collection of consistent authors. It reflects the opinions of the authors who wrote the editorial and not the UP newsroom. When The Editorial Board publishes, the authors are listed in italics at the bottom of the article. 

An example of The Editorial Board can be found here.

Jessica Abramsky is the News Editor for the University Press. For more information on this article or others, you can reach Jessica at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @jessabramsky.