COVERITLIVE.COM

12:01

William Osborne - Hello out there. This is Bill Osborne, senior editor of the Union-Tribune editorial and opinion pages, here to answer your questions about our department, how we work, and anything else on your mind. This is your chance to put me on the hot seat. Have at it.

12:06

[Comment From xtra]
San Diego Tribune has changed

12:06

William Osborne - Indeed, it has changed, but your question is a little vague. Do you mean the recent ownership change? Or are you referring to a change in the editorial philosophy over the years?

12:08

[Comment From xtra]
Change in the entire paper...

12:08

[Comment From xtra]
Witness..Hillary v Cheney..Is that news?

12:11

William Osborne - Yes, it certainly is news, and a bit unusual. I'm sure you're noticed that former President Bush has not engaged in the dialogue to this point. Cheney, in my view, is on very thin ice in his criticisms of American foreign policy under Obama, especially to be making these criticisms so early in the new administration.

12:13

[Comment From xtra]
Witness ..the language: Bewildered Teen..somali pirate..Some editor needs to take a red pen to that kind of ..not biased but...opinionated headline

12:15

William Osborne - Well, you're asking some questins here that are out of my area of responsibility. Again, I am in charge of the editorial and opinion pages, not the news pages -- and we do keep those functions very separate.

12:15

[Comment From xtra]
On the California page..instead of an insider report on Sacramento..there is what appears to be a half page advertisement for earth day casinos..Was that advertising and why isn't it labled as such?

12:15

William Osborne - Ditto. Sorry, but that is really a question for the news editors.

12:16

[Comment From quick question]
what's the average age of your editors?

12:17

William Osborne - Average age of our editors? Sorry, I don't have a clue. I can tell you, reluctantly, that I am 59, but only for seven more days. We have young editors, older editors, those in the middle, men and women.

12:18

[Comment From your take]
what's your opinion of the voiceofsandiego.org?

12:22

William Osborne - Voice of San Diego is, in my view, an important new (relatively) player in San Diego news. Like all competitors, VOSD helps keep us on our toes, in much the same way as the Los Angeles Times did years ago when it had a complete San Diego County edition. It was not successful financially, which is why it folded, but it was good journalistically and kept us on our toes. Voice of San Diego does not have the staff to do what we do, but it serves a different purpose.

12:22

[Comment From xtra]
Cheney is on thin ice..Is that your opinion and would you select editorials that reflect your personal views?

12:24

William Osborne - Yes, my personal opinion. We have not editorialized on this. And that is not the basis we would use in selecting commentaries by syndicated writers or freelance authors. In selecting either of those, we try to give readers a variety of viewpoints.

12:25

[Comment From quick question]
it just seems that some of the stances taken by the paper are out of touch with younger news audiences. that is why i asked. is there an attempt to get in touch with how younger people feel about issues? or is that off the table?

12:30

William Osborne - Ok, let me take a stab at that. It's an important question because one of the major problems facing newspapers from San Diego to St. Louis to Boston and all points in between is the loss of younger readers. Personally, I was raised in St. Louis in a family that subscribed to both the morning and evening papers. I grew up as a newspaper reader. Sadly, that is less and less the case these days. Still, we make many attempts as a newspaper to reach younger audiences. I gather from your question that you think that the editorials are written by a bunch of old fogeys? Well, we're young at heart.

12:30

[Comment From Twitter]
I found this chat through Twitter. Do you have a Twitter account? Do you see a value in the service?

12:32

William Osborne - I don't personally have a Twitter account. but the day's top opinion stories are available on Twitter @SDUTOpinion. The company has other Twitter feeds as well. If you go to @SignOnSanDiego you can see other U-T feeds.

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