Labels are for Pickel Jars. . .

. . .and for opinion pieces, commentary, editorials, advocacy.

     Everybody dreams of being a columnist they say (whoever "they" are). Actually, I got my first column because an editor wanted to throw somebody else off the editorial page. Can you say cutthroat?

     That column was pretty loose. sort of like this blog, which I prefer to call a column because it gives it more gravitas.

     Still, of course, it was labeled. It had a standing head, a byline and a mug shot. Because that's what you do.

     Some years ago we started doing analysis pieces. These aren't the same as opinion pieces or columns. No standing heads. No mug shots. No commentary. Just a deeper look at the story. Reporters can do this because we are very often the only ones who attend the meetings, ask the questions, dig into the archives, read the reports. We are often the ones who have seen it before, met the people, memorized the laws, deciphered the jargon. So, we can write an analysis to let the reader know how the system works. Or doesn't.

       Editorials -- unsigned -- and signed op-ed pieces are also labeled as what they are.

     Pros know all this. But there are so many things posted on the internet these days that are obviously opinion but not labeled as such. They don't deal with facts, but are posted to look like news. Which is harmful to the reader.