The Return of the Wikitorial! Can South Dakota Handle It?

By: Joe Strupp Just because it flopped at the Los Angeles Times, doesn?t mean it won?t work at The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, S.D. At least that's the hope of Chuck Baldwin, editorial page editor of the paper.

On Wednesday, the newspaper launched its own, somewhat altered version of the Times' failed Wikitorial-type approach directed by Michael Kinsley. (Its arrival was first flagged by the Web site www.inopinion.com.) Unlike the Southern California attempt, the Argus Leader program will have a bit more oversight, Baldwin contends.

"What made this fail in Los Angeles?readers started using profanity and making unsubstantiated and even libelous charges," Baldwin wrote in an editor's note announcing the new approach. "We'll check your editorials before we post them. But we won't edit them - that would defeat the purpose. They either meet our standards and they'll be posted, or they won't and we'll delete them."

The L.A. Times editorials were also hacked, split in two, and more.

The new option, dubbed "You-Write-It" editorials, began Wednesday with an editorial on Sunshine Week, which readers were invited to rewrite via the paper's Web site. As of Thursday morning, one response had come in, Baldwin said. "It said, 'I agree with you, and wouldn't change it at all'," the editor said with a laugh.

But he stressed that more activity would likely come about once the service is in use for a while.

"This is going to be new stuff for the paper, new stuff for me and new stuff for you," Baldwin wrote in his note. "We might encounter some bugs along the way, and if we do, we'll just work them out. The goals are simple - get information out more quickly than we can with the printed page and get readers more involved."

The paper also recently created two related options for reader input, the "citizens editorial board" and "legislative journal."

The citizens editorial board, which has been on he site for at least two weeks, is simply a place where editors will post ideas for upcoming editorials and seek input from readers. Currently, the paper is looking for input on how the state legislature did during its recent session, what to ask candidates running in the upcoming city and school elections, and whether to endorse an upcoming proposal for a $100,000 study of open government.

Finally, the legislative journal seeks comments on the latest state lawmaker actions during the current sessions. Since January, it has sought input on various issues and drawn more than 30 comments.

"We've got new features that will allow readers to get involved in the editorial page and also allow us to get information out more quickly," Baldwin wrote. "Specifically during the legislative session in Pierre, when events move so quickly they often can overtake the printed page."