Opinion editor unveils new blog
Welcome to my blog.
Who am I?
Well, I’m just a middle-aged balding guy trying to make a buck and get out of this alive.
I borrowed those words from a colleague, John Glisch, editorial page editor at Florida Today. John is a Milwaukee native, and, if I remember correctly, he spent time working in Beloit. Some of you might recall him.
Anyway, that comment seems appropriate as the newspaper industry struggles in a rapidly changing media world. I’ve used it a few times in calls with the invariable critic.
I open myself daily to such criticism, and by starting this blog, I likely will face more. Not that a journalist, particularly an opinion writer, needs more stress. But I feel like a dinosaur in this technological age (I don’t even own a cell phone; more on that sometime later), and this is one step toward personal modernization.
I’ve edited the Gazette’s Opinion pages for more than six years. The job entails selecting and editing the national, state and local columns that appear on our Opinion pages daily, sifting and editing letters from readers, choosing syndicated cartoons, editing Sound Off, compiling Friday’s Web Views, and writing the Gazette’s daily editorials on local and state topics. I also design the whole works—computerized pagination, we call it in the biz.
I’ve been at the Gazette since December 1987. I arrived as the Gazette’s first and only Sunday editor (we no longer have a “Sunday editor”) two weeks before our first Sunday edition came out Jan. 3, 1988.
I’ve lived in Janesville since starting at the Gazette, so I consider this community my home.
But my hometown is Marshall, a little but growing village in Dane County. I loved sports, played varsity basketball and started my journalism career as a sportswriter. I earned a journalism degree from UW-Oshkosh and landed the sports editor job at what was then one of the state’s finest weekly newspapers, The Oconomowoc Enterprise. I spent 3½ years in that role before taking over as news editor. Another 3½ years later, I landed a job as city editor of the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. I was there less than two years before coming here.
These days, you might find me playing racquetball with a couple of buddies, both GM retirees. You might find my wife, Cheryl, and me in a couple’s league at El Ra Bowl. You might find us hacking our way around Blackhawk Golf Course on a Sunday afternoon. Or you might see us riding the city’s trails on a tandem bicycle we bought used last year.
You also might have read my book, “Death Beyond the Willows.” As you likely have already noticed, I love to write, and my book is a true story of rural history surrounding a tragedy that occurred in 1927 to a couple wed in Marshall. The groom grew up across the road from the Peck family farm.
Between us, Cheryl and I have three grown sons and two lovely grandkids.
So what do I intend to do with this blog? Maybe you’ve read the Gazette’s other blogs, or even left comments on them. We appreciate that. I hope to make my blog different in three ways.
First, I might never write one this long again. I plan to keep them shorter than those you typically read from my Gazette colleagues. Generally, they likely will be a paragraph or two.
Second, while many of our bloggers are hourly employees who run short of time to blog more than once or twice a week, my intent is to write at least once a day.
Third, while the Gazette’s reporters who blog generally don’t share opinions in order to maintain their objectivity, you’ll find plenty of my viewpoints on this blog. But while the daily editorials I write offer the Gazette Editorial Board’s opinions, the comments you’ll read here will be mine alone.
I’ll weigh in as the mood strikes and topics come up during the day. Sometimes I’ll share thoughts on why we handle certain subjects the way we do. Still being a sports nut, I’ll sometimes comment on some sports subject. Almost daily, I hope to let you know the topic you can expect in our next day’s editorial or other Opinion page content.
If you have a follow-up question to something I write about here, I’ll try to answer it. But I likely won’t have time to chase down answers to questions you might have, unless they’re on a topic the editorial board plans to focus on.
So in general, you’ll never know what you might find on this blog. I hope that keeps it fun. interesting and surprising. I hope you’ll join me in a discussion. If you have thoughts you want to put in a signed letter to the editor, I hope you’ll continue to send me those, too (you can do so at gpeck@gazettextra.com).
There you have it.
I’d best sign off now; I have pages to fill for tomorrow’s Gazette.
Jun 10, 2009 at 10:41 p.m.
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Just wanted to throw my 2 cents at you since I noticed a Letter to the Editor in my mom's print edition yesterday.
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You had better not take out Bill O'Reilly's column based on the idea that his comments are 'inflammatory.' Which was essentially the poin of the person's letter. There are plenty of inflammatory things being said from all sides about any number of groups and I fall into at least a couple of them. So, keep up the good work, the editorial section, as sporadically as I read it, never seems too far skewed to one side or the other.
Jun 10, 2009 at 4:58 p.m.
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Thanks. I'm frustrated that I've wasted so much time...
Jun 10, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
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lakennedy: I filed 3 more blogs yesterday and one more already today. I hope to do at least one more before leaving today--assuming I don't run out of daylight. Find them by going to blogs under our main page, then finding Opinion Matters/Greg Peck in the right column, near the bottom, of the page that pops up.
Greg Peck
Jun 10, 2009 at 10:44 a.m.
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I'm interested in this blog, but am hoping for a topic to comment on (besides the creation of this blog) sometime soon.
Jun 10, 2009 at 9:03 a.m.
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gazettefan: Thanks for the kind words about my book. As I mentioned on Stan Milam's radio show yesterday (podcast at http://wclo.com/podcasts/stan-milam-show...), I only have about 30 copies of “Death Beyond the Willows” left at home from the second run of 1,000. Signed copies are available at Book World. We've also been selling them at the Gazette. If you want to buy one at the Gazette ($16.95 plus tax), call my direct line, (608) 755-8278, to make sure I'm in and I would be happy to sign it for you.
Greg Peck
Jun 10, 2009 at 8:03 a.m.
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I read Death Beyond the Willows. It's a great read. I recommend it.
Jun 9, 2009 at 10:55 p.m.
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I like this Blog.
This should be interesting.
Thank you Mr. Peck.
Jun 9, 2009 at 9:40 a.m.
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gazettefan: Yes, I agree that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was one of my better film efforts.
BostonBill: Well, it helped my basketball game that I'm several inches taller and about a decade younger than Halverson. He never got too dejected, however; at least he kept coming back for more. Now that he lives in Lake Geneva, it's tougher to get together for those one-on-one skirmishes, however.
JB: I realize we're all going to die; I think John Glisch's point was to try to retire before he died; at least that's how I took it. Anyway, despite the recent agonizing 401k statements (and Cheryl and I are working for companies that don't offer pensions), I, like Glisch, hope I can retire before my personal expiration date.
Greg (yes, my birth name is Gregory) Peck
Jun 9, 2009 at 9:22 a.m.
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Editor Scott Angus recently offered the explanation below of the E-Edition in his blog.
Greg Peck
For those wondering about digital access to the Gazette, the E-Edition is available at no extra cost to subscribers. Your access matches your print subscription. You are allowed access to the same editions that you receive in print.
Additionally, the Gazette offers hybrid ubscriptions. You must take at least the Sunday print edition. The cost of the Sunday print paper plus the daily E-Edition is $8.95 per month. Or you can get weekend print editions - Saturday and Sunday - plus the daily E-Edition for $9.95 per month. Click the E-Edition button in the upper right hand corner of this page for more
information.
Scott Angus
Jun 9, 2009 at 9:18 a.m.
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gazettefan, I literally laughed out loud at your comment. Good one.
Jun 8, 2009 at 11:23 p.m.
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Happy blogging, Greg!
Jun 8, 2009 at 10:46 p.m.
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Sir, you were really good in: To Kill a Mockingbird.
Jun 8, 2009 at 10:02 p.m.
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Maybe Mr. Peck can expound on how he always put the hurt on jbhalverson1946
in the hoop games. LOL
Jun 8, 2009 at 9:44 p.m.
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Geeze. Not much talk about your column.
Looking forward to it...just don't mention our basketball games.
Jun 8, 2009 at 5:20 p.m.
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if you press the space
bar in between your paragraphs
it does the same as a period
or any other key:)
Jun 8, 2009 at 4:29 p.m.
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So... how about paragraph formatting in the comments section? Currently I tack an extra line with a period between paragraphs to separate the text. Is there an easier method and/or can the code be changed to accept blank lines for paragraphs, such as PHPbbs and Discus Pro message boards do?
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Don't worry about not having a cell phone, you're actually ahead of the status and tech curves. Owning a cell phone used to be a status symbol and we computer geeks would wear them on belt holsters and spend a fortune on having the latest and greatest model. We have since learned better and sometimes refer to cell phones as "leashes" and lately iPhone owners have been the predominant chasers of pointless status. It can be more of a status symbol to NOT have a cell phone and it might offer you some opportunities for uninterrupted thinking or reading - or at least call-free potty breaks.
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Some computer techs do not (at least as far as their employers are concerned) own a cell phone. Being on call 24/7 is sometimes the penalty for a tech person to own a cell phone and I've read stories of more than one IT person dodging the communications "bullet" by offering to carry any cell phone their employer was willing to purchase for them and pay the communications contract fees for.
Jun 8, 2009 at 4:28 p.m.
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I hate to break it to you, Greg, but none of us are getting out of here alive! Time flies whether you're having fun or not, so congrats on your new blog - have fun with it! JB
Jun 8, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
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Thanks! I was under the impression that the only way to access the full online edition was in conjunction with a print subscription. I'll check into it further.
Jun 8, 2009 at 1:50 p.m.
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I'm so opinionated that I don't have room for more.
Jun 8, 2009 at 1:38 p.m.
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copperguy - I have an online only subscription that allows me to read the full e-edition, as well as the online edition. The e-edition has some features that don't appear on-line and has stories sooner. I like it and the cost was very reasonable.
Jun 8, 2009 at 12:54 p.m.
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Oh, good, another place to opine! Just kidding. The Gazette is a pretty darned good "newspaper." I put that in quotes because I generally read the online offering. I DO wish you folks could come up with an "online-only" subscription. It would save me the guilty conscience that comes with freeloading!
Jun 8, 2009 at 12:42 p.m.
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BeenThereDoneThat, my guess is Kyle Geissler, who told me to put extra spaces between graphs when I copied and pasted that piece into the blog, fixed it after I forgot to follow through and do it as he directed. Perils of the electronic age, I guess. Thanks, Kyle, or whichever one of our other Web staffers fixed it for me.
Greg Peck
Jun 8, 2009 at 12:04 p.m.
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Welcome to the blogosphere. Look forward to reading it.
Jun 8, 2009 at 11:18 a.m.
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Woah! What kind of magic was that? When I read the blog the first time, it literally showed up as one giant paragraph. After I posted my comment and clicked back to the blog, it appeared as it does now in nicely arranged paragraphs. Wow...that was weird...and I'm not even drinking this morning. :-)
Jun 8, 2009 at 11:17 a.m.
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If you're a newspaper editor, you really should know better than to write something that long as one giant paragraph.
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