By definition, a columnist is, “a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions.” Let me rephrase that: a person who writes articles that offer opinions.

I get it. This may shock some people that this is a legitimate job that a person can hold. They get paid to write their opinion at a local, national and sometimes international level. Compared to that random stranger on Facebook barking his or her opinion, most of the time a columnist’s article is based on facts, statistics and quotes.

Every newspaper has columnists that write for an opinion or editorial section. There are even “specialized columnists,” such as those who are political columnists, entertainment columnists, health columnists or sports columnists, the list goes on. Most of the time, these columnists are experts within their specific field or are former long-time reporters 

Columnists do not write news stories with their own opinions sprinkled in. Sure, there is the argument that there is biased news—which can be true to a certain extent—where reporters sprinkle in different biases, but that is a whole different story. That gets into the debate of biased news and President Donald Trump’s multiple claims at “fake news.” But I will leave politics aside for now.

Given today’s climate, it is no surprise that people immediately go at a columnist’s throat. It is important to understand the difference between a news reporter and a columnist, one whose job is to report facts, the other to provide an opinion based on facts. When reading a columnist’s piece while expecting a news report, all an audience will see is biased and opinionated reporting —  but that is, again, the columnist’s job: to provide an opinion that is factually driven. If someone wants the cold hard facts, click the “News” section on a website, not “Editorial.” Or, take the columnist’s opinion with a grain of salt: they may have a differing opinion than you. 

Ninety-nine percent of the time there is only complaining when the reader does not agree with the opinion, as expected. But once an editorial with aligning views pops up on someone’s timeline, it is the next best thing since sliced bread. 

Notice how the same controversy that follows political columns does not extend, in the same caliber, to editorials about movies or entertainment. Or, if there is a “debate” about the column, readers tend to be more civilized. Obviously, there are a few exceptions with people who go after a reporter or threaten their life or family, but I would like to think that is a rare scenario. 

The real problem here is not the fact that columnists have opinions or commentary on a situation and write about them. It is more the fact of going after columnists for having that opinion and choosing to write about it. Journalists are humans too. They have every right to an opinion. They just have a larger platform than other people and can publically express their opinions because it is their job.

At The Oswegonian, we have writers that consider themselves “exclusive” to our opinion section. They hold the same title, “Staff Writer,” as any other writer does in our organization, whether they write for news, sports, opinion or Laker Review. However, with only a certain amount of students writing every issue, sometimes those writers bounce around and write for multiple sections. That means, sometimes, our news reporters are also our opinion writers.

As a disclaimer, those news writers are not allowed to write an opinion article on the same topic. For example, if our staff writer writes a news story on SUNY Oswego’s return-to-campus plan with facts, they cannot write the opinion article saying it is either great or bad — that is biased reporting and the news story loses its credibility. So, if a staff writer wants to take on a news story about the school’s COVID-19 testing policy but has an opinion on how another state may be handling the coronavirus, it can happen.

So let me be blunt in saying this: columnists have opinions and they are allowed to talk about them. It is as simple as that.