The Best Local Columnist, Who Might it Be?

[Michael_ Gee]

Honestly unless you're taking papers from all over the country there's no way to know who the best local columnists are. My paper just got a new one and he will never be confused with one of the best ones. I suspect most of us because of our backgrounds read more local sports columns around the country than we do regular general columnists.

Give the new one time. One thing about the legends was that they worked in a time where you could start as a metro rookie reporter, or a high school sports person, and work your way up. That's not such an option now. Being an entertaining writer means nothing compared to being a click artist. Small wonder writing and reporting ability declines.

 

[Sports Barf]

You guys continue to confuse lead sports columnists, which most big city newspapers have and general local columnists, which are getting thin on the ground, even in Boston there's no discernible lead metro columnist at the Globe. More of a tendency to have specialization. Shirley Leung is the lead columnist in the business section and she's pretty good, but that's the sort of thing they have.

Shirley lost me when she started waving the Boston Olympics pom poms

 

[Dave Caldwell]

Steve Lopez, and I think that ends the discussion.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Do they even have city columnists anymore? Serious question. To me, it's either sports columnists or editorial people.

That is one reason I posed that. In the papers I see they seem to have disappeared. But I was afraid to make the generalization. I wonder why city columnists seem to by dying at a faster rate than sports columnists.

 

[Alma]

Mellinger, Doyel, Mike Finger, Kirk Bohls. Hochman in St. Louis, Keeler in Denver

Mellinger could be a darn good city side columnist and frankly probably should. You get a World Series and a Super Bowl team in KC, the eating won't get much better.

 

[TigerVols]

Steve Lopez, and I think that ends the discussion.

Truth.

 

[TigerVols]

For sports, Gentry Estes at the Tennessean is a really good read and he produces about 5 columns a week. He's the best in that market in ages.

 

[SFIND]

Tom Archdeacon

He's been retired for going on 10 years.

But you wouldn't know that looking at DDN website. He writes a couple features a month, and they play him up big online.

He hasn't been a true columnist for a while now, though. Can't tell you the last time I saw an opinion piece of his.

 

[Slacker]

Jim DeFede in Miami was the second coming of Mike Royko. Scorching columns, done just right. Until the Herald brass threw him under a bus. DeFede shrugged it off, though, and moved to investigative work for local TV. What a loss for print columnists.

 

[Mngwa]

He's been retired for going on 10 years.

But you wouldn't know that looking at DDN website. He writes a couple features a month, and they play him up big online.

He hasn't been a true columnist for a while now, though. Can't tell you the last time I saw an opinion piece of his.

I wondered. He was old when I left the state 20-some years ago.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

Mellinger, Doyel, Mike Finger, Kirk Bohls. Hochman in St. Louis, Keeler in Denver

Full-on fanboi Hochman? Really?

 

[Twirling Time]

The DMN decided a decade ago to fill up B1 with columnists and put game-day coverage inside. Hasn't worked for me.

As far as news columnists, their bench is thin. Most of their veterans left three years ago, and they seem to be paying Robert Wilonsky by the column these days. Same with holdover Dave Lieber.

But one former columnist returned to print with this:

For my brother who served in Afghanistan, the war's inept finale isn't a blame game