I got quite an interesting start writing for The Daily Mississippian. Instead of applying for a position or intending to land a weekly column, I submitted an Op-Ed that I felt needed to be read about charter public schools. Two weeks later I was again asked to submit a column to cover for someone who could not fill her slot that week. After that, I was asked to write on a weekly basis, as I have for the past three years.
Over that time frame, I have covered many topics about which I was already knowledgeable. Other topics required a good bit of background research. Some columns would just flow from my fingers to the page without a hitch. Others have given me the most extreme case of writer’s block. In fact, I still have about 10 unfinished columns in various stages that I felt were not good enough to run in The DM.
I have received feedback and responses from those who strongly agree with me and those who strongly disagree with me. In some occasions I would change the opinions of those who disagreed, and once I changed the opinion of someone who had agreed with me through the way I presented the other viewpoint.
What I always tried to focus on were issues that meant something to the readers of The DM. This meant sometimes focusing on Mississippi politics even when national issues seemed to be dominating the media.
I have been told by a few that they wanted to start writing for The DM because of me. Although, for some, that was to write columns opposing everything I said. During my time as a columnist, I have seen fewer and fewer political columns fill the pages of The DM. I have seen far more liberal writers than conservative, including a semester or two where I was the only regular columnist who would identify as such.
In the end, I hope the things I wrote were at least read with open minds. I hope that for each column at least one person can say that they learned something from it. I hope that in some fashion my column will be missed each week. Lastly, to those who desire to write for The DM as well, whether that be as a political columnist or sports news writer, why not give it a chance? You already aren’t writing for The DM. So, if you give it a try, you can’t end up worse off.
As my time at Ole Miss draws to a close, I know I will use the things I have learned from this endeavor, and I hope each of you takes something with you, as well.
Trent Winford is a senior public policy leadership major from Madison.
-Trent Winford
tgwinford@bellsouth.net
