Lure of daily journalism: Smart people, messy desks and work that matters

At the end of 2015, I walked out of the Orlando Sentinel newsroom for good after 29 years with the paper.

The company was offering buyouts and I took one, thinking the time was right.

It wasn’t, and three years later I’m back as the Sentinel’s opinion editor.

Back in the same office I occupied during an earlier stint in that job.

Semi-retirement wasn’t bad. I taught journalism at Stetson University, did some writing for IDignity (a very worthy local charity), trained reporters and editors at another paper and racked up a few thousand miles on my bicycle.

But I missed daily journalism. I missed the unpredictability of each day, the smart people, the messy desks, the sense of doing something that matters.

A few things have changed since I left. The news reporting staff is smaller. The presses are gone. So is the cafeteria.

Something else changed. A new publisher and a new editor-in-chief are in place, and they heard from readers who were unhappy that the Sentinel’s opinion pages had lost their voice. Readers said they missed locally produced editorials, which had been scarce since the previous opinion editor, Paul Owens, left last summer to become president of 1000 Friends of Florida.

After that, I wrote a few local editorials as a freelancer, and the Sentinel ran guest editorials from other papers owned by Tribune Publishing, but readers told the paper’s executives that wasn’t enough.

Readers are savvy. They understand that editorials can be a valuable institutional voice that holds local leaders accountable, highlights the community’s problems, advocates for change and offers praise and encouragement.

The Sentinel has a long tradition of offering a clear, powerful voice on its opinion pages. Two of its three Pulitzer Prizes were awarded for editorials. One series exposed Florida’s destructive growth patterns, while the other laid bare the state’s predatory lending practices.

Regardless of whether they win Pulitzers, editorials have a special role in the community conversation, and you should expect to see them far more often.

They’ll cover a range of subjects, but look for an emphasis on these themes:

■ Growth. Sometimes it’s good (Medical City, Creative Village), sometimes it’s not (sprawling subdivisions in rural east Orange County).

■ Environment. For example, the threat pollution poses to Central Florida’s springs, which feed rivers like the Wekiva.

■ Politics. An informed voter is a better voter. We’ll weigh in on the state and local political scene and hold elected officials’ feet to the fire. When elections roll around, we’ll provide readers with recommendations on who we think are the best candidates.

■ Housing. Our region’s low-wage economy makes it hard to rent a home, much less buy one. Too many families end up crammed into hotel rooms. We have to do better by the people who make this economy work.

I’ll write most of those editorials, but I’ll rely on the advice and arguments of other opinion writers in the newsroom, who will help shape our editorial positions. One of those is Jay Reddick, who is taking over the work of selecting and editing letters to the editor and guest columns.

Meanwhile, you deserve to know a little about me, so here’s the abbreviated resume:

I mostly grew up in Titusville and graduated from the University of Central Florida. So, go Knights!

After working for a couple of weekly papers, including one in the Keys, I went to Florida Today and then the Sentinel in 1986, working as a reporter in the Brevard County bureau.

I joined the editing ranks in 1990, becoming the bureau chief in Osceola County. I led various reporting teams in Orlando and then spent a few years as bureau chief and then a columnist in Volusia County.

I returned to editing in Orlando and spent five years as the opinion editor before moving to my final job (until now) as breaking news and communities editor.

I still live in Volusia County but get to skip the Interstate 4 commute by riding the train to work.

That’s me in a nutshell.

Now I want to know more about you, specifically, your take on our editorial content.

If you think we should write an editorial on a particular subject, let me know. If you think we need more guest columns, or fewer, let me know. If you think we’re tilting too much right or left, let me know.

I’m not interested in working in a vacuum. I’m interested in what’s on your mind.