The Masthead

If we hadn't stopped for breakfast that fateful Tuesday, we could have gone all day without knowing about the terror visited on New York City and Washington. On Monday, Sept. 10, Bonnie and I were in Greenfield, Mass., her home town, researching...

One of the ways that many people -- at least those who are newspaper readers -- have dealt with the Sept. 11 tragedy has been by writing. That includes letters to the editor, op-ed pieces, even poetry When I arrived at my office on Monday, Sept....

Dan Rather cried on Letterman while talking about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Fox News Channel reporters sported American flag pins on the air. Anchors for a Baltimore TV station were ordered to read statements supporting President George W....

Our 1990 exchange of letters showed a senator's delight in tweaking the press. Jesse Helms went to the U.S. Senate in 1973, the same year I joined the Observer as an editorial writer. I cannot say that over the years we have become close. He...

Information is the life blood of democracy. It is power. Especially in these times, information also is security. The fact that we rush to limit information -- and thus our security -- in times of national distress defies reason. In such times in...

American soldiers enlisted in the battle against the forces of al-Qaida and Islamic fundamental extremism may believe they are fighting for the good or USA and its abiding commitment to liberty. Yet the truth is, war has never been particularly good...

Bernard L. Stein is James Ottaway Visiting Professor at the State University of New York, New Paltz. He will teach a spring semester course titled "Writing to make a difference Stein is editor of The Riverdale Press in the Bronx, N.Y. Reid MacCluggage...

Here's a little warning if you happen to be in Pittsburgh this week: A bunch of troublemakers is descending on the city. Most of them don't even have the good grace to leave you alone at the breakfast table. They are forever deploring this and condemning...

Sept. 11. As NCEW's board and committee heads gathered around 9 a.m. in Pittsburgh's Marriott Hotel to finalize the conference, our nation's security blanket was being pulled out from under us. As early arrivers stirred coffee, the north tower of the...

The broadcast perspective on all this begins in Pittsburgh on Sept. 11, when I found myself with your officers, board members, and other committee chairs and staff preparing to convene the annual convention. By six o'clock that day, my editorial responsibility...