Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 372 Journalism: Publishing Across Media Columnists frequently create a persona—a personality—for their columns that they may not use in their other writing. The persona is not fi ctional—it is rather an attitude toward himself or his reader and his topic that the columnist puts on or takes off like work clothes, different clothes for different writing tasks. When the audience and the purpose vary, so does the persona and therefore the voice. Chris Erskine (Figure 12.5), a Los Angeles Times columnist and editor, uses several voices as he contributes four types of reoccurring works for the paper. 1. Travel Ticker, a weekly feature for the paper’s travel section. 2. Fan of the House, a column for the sports section. 3. Man About Town, a column in the home & garden section. 4. Book reviews. For each task, each with a different audience and purpose, he assumes a different persona. As he writes “Travel Ticker,” Erskine is a journalist, almost always in the background, collecting and prioritizing travel opportunities and events, then crafting the 5 W’s into brief mentions, each separated by four dots. Erskine says, “I try to keep it a little jaunty, but most of the work goes into collecting the info.” A “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie marathon, plus a question-and-answer session with some members of the cast and production team, will be part of the ParkFilm Fest on May 5 at Paramount Studios. Proceeds will help offset cuts to California state parks. Info: www.calparks.org/.... Big Bear Lake is offering special deals for cycling fans at this year’s Amgen Tour of California Stage 6 Finish, May 18. It’s Not How You Talk! Record yourself in conversation with others, especially when you think you are being witty or persuasive. Then type out a transcript of your words. Are you witty and persuasive in print? Very few people seem intelligent or interesting when they transfer their speaking voices directly to print or broadcast. Skillful columnists appear to be using “everyday language” and a casual voice, but their job is rarely as simple as “writing the way you speak.” A columnist needs to develop a written voice through careful choices and careful rewriting. Columnists know that their everyday speaking voice will not necessarily make an appropriate and enjoyable voice in a column. Figure 12.5 Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine. Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times