Opinion pages are disappearing from newspapers

Interesting observation from Pew Research Center:

[A] growing number of dailies ... have reduced the amount of newsprint they devote to editorials and commentary, a departure from tradition that has gone largely unnoticed outside the affected communities. ...

... Pew Research Center interviews with editors across the country have confirmed a gradual shift both in the amount of space given over to opinion and in the missions of editorial and op-ed pages. Some papers have tried to compensate by running more editorials and columns online and launching more opinion-driven blogs. Some have shifted away from one of the historic missions of newspapers—influencing public opinion—and instead seek to foment community conversations online.

So, what happened? A couple educated guesses:

1. It's well-known that newspapers in general are slimming down and cutting staff and production costs. Opinion pages aren't safe from that fact.

2. Between cable news, talk radio, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, opinion is everywhere. Who's still going to the op-ed page for it?

@eScarry