By: Dave Astor As more newspaper columnists try TV, more TV stars are trying newspaper columns. Among the small-screen stars also seen on the printed page are Bill O'Reilly and Dan Rather.
A big name can mean big column sales for a syndicate -- at least initially -- because many newspapers find celebrity bylines appealing. And, O'Reilly tells
E&P, TV people bring with them a writing approach that newspapers need during a time of declining circulation and shorter attention spans.
O'Reilly says he writes his column in a "conversational style" similar to the one he uses for his highly rated Fox News Channel show,
The O'Reilly Factor. "I'm not trying to show everyone I can write like Norman Mailer. I get to the point quickly -- 600 words, bang, and I'm out," he says, noting that much of the material on newspaper Op-Ed pages can be "ponderous going."
You can be "pithy" and still be substantive, adds O'Reilly, who joined Creators Syndicate in 2001 but actually began writing a column for the
Boston Herald back in 1984.
O'Reilly, also a best-selling author, says a newspaper column adds to his credibility and reaches people who don't watch his show. "It gets that synergy going," notes O'Reilly, who writes his Creators feature either from scratch or uses material gathered for the TV program.
Dan Rather, whose column began in 1997 and now runs in about 50 papers via King Features Syndicate, couldn't be reached for this story. When asked during a 1997
E&P interview why he was doing the column, the CBS anchor replied that "I love to write" and "printer's ink runs in my veins" -- referring to his 1950s work as a Texas newspaperman before starting his TV career.
Alan Shearer, editorial director and general manager of the Washington Post Writers Group, says some TV people "don't have a clue," but others are talented people whose ability to report, write with a "voice," and be concise translates well into a newspaper column.
How do sales of columns by stars of other media compare to those by longtime newspaper journalists? At Creators, which represents people from both categories, there's no clear differential. "It depends on the individual columnist," says syndicate President Rick Newcombe, adding that O'Reilly's feature is already in nearly 300 papers.
O'Reilly reports that some newspapers won't run him because he works on TV. "That's just crazy," he says. "A column should be judged on its merits.
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