Shifting opinions
Chron redesigns editorial pages, leaves Salter out

By Camille T. Taiara

Public outcry after the San Francisco Chronicle decided to oust Stephanie Salter, arguably the paper's most outspoken progressive op-ed columnist, continues to fall on deaf ears at the daily. Despite two rallies and at least 1,200 e-mails calling for her reinstatement, Salter's name was conspicuously absent from redesign plans announced by editorial page editor John Diaz.

News of the redesign, which first ran in the opinion section of the Chronicle's Sept. 29 issue, was the first published acknowledgment of a change in the paper's opinion pages; yet it came a full month after Salter's last column ran. It heralds a new, twice-a-week op-ed column by Chron editorial writer Ruth Rosen.

The Chron terminated Salter's 16-year-old column Aug. 28, though she remains a reporter for the Sunday Insights section – a less visible, less influential post.

"We are not considering bringing her back as an op-ed columnist," Chronicle public relations director Joe Brown says.

Nancy DeStefanis, cochair of Readers and Subscribers for an Improved Chronicle, told us it's not enough to replace one woman with another. "We welcome another feminist in the paper's op-ed pages. But women are not interchangeable. Rosen cannot substitute for the background and substance Salter brings [to the paper]."

"Voices that dissent from the rush toward war are being relegated to the back pages," says Deborah Glenn-Rogers, president of San Francisco's chapter of the National Organization for Women and a member of the Bay Area Coalition to Return Stephanie Salter to the Op-Ed Pages. Glenn-Rogers sees the termination of Salter's column as indicative of a more conservative trend in the Chronicle's editorial bias. And she worries about the message Salter's reassignment sends to other writers. In response, the coalition plans to take its concerns higher up the corporate ladder by targeting its letter-writing campaign on Hearst Corp. CEO Victor Ganzi and vice president of news George Irish. It is also considering launching a formal boycott of the Chronicle.

"The way Stephanie has been treated sends a message that it's not safe to speak your mind," Glenn-Rogers says.

Salter told the Bay Guardian: "Having my column taken away has landed hard on the staff here. It doesn't make sense to them, either."

Stephanie Salter speaks at a Bay Area Journalists' mixer sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists, Oct. 9, 6-8 p.m., Venture Frogs Restaurant, 1000 Van Ness, S.F. Free. (415) 777-8577. E-mail Camille T. Taiara at camille@sfbg.com.