Twenty-three percent declare themselves conservative or leaning right, compared to 15 percent of the newsroom. And 32 percent declare independence, where 24 percent of the newsroom say they are politically independent. Editorial writers followed distinctly different paths to their careers. They chose careers in journalism either very early or relatively late in their lives. They are the least likely to have been influenced by family members or friends, or by work on a school paper.
Editorial writers are also less likely to have had newspaper internships in college.
Editorial writers seem to have been more mobile in their lives. Whereas 33 percent of the workforce grew up in the area in which they now work, only 23 percent of editorial writers work in their hometown area. In some ways, editorial writers are similar to their newsroom colleagues. Patterns of sexual orientation and marriage are no different among editorial writers, and other than a lack of internships, there is no difference in college activities or academic performance. Differences in Work Attitudes Editorial writers stand out from their newsroom counterparts in the vast majority of opinion and attitude measures taken, and almost always more positively.