Is this page tilting left or right?

I get a lot of complaints about The News & Observer's being biased to the left or the right.

But dig down into those readers' comments, and what they're talking about often is not the paper's news coverage, or even its editorial positions. Rather, they're forming opinions of the paper based on the columns and articles that appear on the newspaper's op-ed (for "opposite editorial") page.

George Will, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer, Ellen Goodman -- these and others are the writers who are ringing readers' gongs. Many of the letters to the editor respond to the commentary that appears on the page you're reading now.

That's good. One purpose of a newspaper is to stir community debate about the issues of the day. Think about it: The N&O devotes a lot of space and expense (to pay for the columns) to a full page of discussion of public policy that generates zero revenue, in terms of advertising.

Does the page lean liberal or conservative? That's in the eye of the beholder. At the request of one reader, I've looked back at the columns over a six-month period to see whether the numbers skew one way or the other.

Here's the count of the most frequent columnists over the period from October 2006 to March 2007: George Will, 45; Rick Martinez, 38; David Broder, 24; Ellen Goodman, 24; Charles Krauthammer, 22; Thomas Friedman, 16; Paul Krugman, 12; Bob Herbert, 12; Richard Reeves, 9; Gwynne Dyer, 9, David Brooks 7.

The reader, Charlie Board, perceives that lineup as overwhelmingly "right wing or neocon." In that camp, he places Will, Martinez, Broder, Krauthammer, Friedman and Brooks (total 152 columns). To the left, he puts Krugman, Goodman, Reeves, Herbert and Dyer (66 columns).

We could debate the ideological spectrum all day, but I'd place Broder and Friedman more to the left of center than right, which changes the count to 112 conservative, 106 liberal -- a virtual tie.

It's a fatuous exercise, trying to pigeonhole columnists politically and to gauge the page accordingly. Editors at The N&O are not keeping count, but they told me they would expect the syndicated columnists to skew slightly right, for several reasons. One, to balance the other articles, editorials and cartoons on the op-ed and editorial page. Another is that the stable of liberal columnists has been depleted with the losses of Molly Ivins, dead of breast cancer, and William Raspberry, retired.

Allen Torrey, op-ed editor, said his focus is not on ideology, but on ideas and issues. "I'd be very disappointed if anyone could say that I have some kind of ideological bias in picking pieces," he said. "What I'm looking for are interesting pieces that address important and timely issues from a variety of perspectives, with a leavening of the light and offbeat occasionally."

Torrey notes that the page includes, in addition to the syndicated columnists, two other kinds of pieces: "Point of View" articles written by local people with some expertise or timely viewpoint on issues, and op-ed pieces from other newspapers. The Points of View tend to be more liberal because, in a community of academics and activists, more of those viewpoints come to the paper. The N&O does not solicit particular Point of View pieces.

Rick Martinez is a special case, Torrey said. A regular contributor but not an employee of The N&O, Martinez brings a strongly conservative voice on local and state issues. His column runs every Wednesday and every other Saturday, giving him high visibility that, I think, contributes to the perception of a rightish slant to the page.

There is no liberal counterpart to Martinez on the op-ed page, but as Torrey points out, his views offer contrast to those of news columnists Barry Saunders and Ruth Sheehan, who each appear twice a week in the City&State section. "In a certain way, [Martinez] is a counterweight to Barry and Ruth," Torrey said.

Why have a local opinion columnist on the op-ed page at all? Editorial Page Editor Steve Ford offered this explanation in regard to Martinez: "There is a body of conservative opinion in this community, and it's helpful for us to have a voice in our paper that helps to articulate that, with specific reference to issues of state, regional and local concern."

Because Martinez's focus is on policy, Ford said, his column is more appropriate for op-ed than for a news page. (I think it would be interesting to have a more conservative news columnist.)

Martinez aside, is there a problem with the op-ed page that needs to be fixed? Not much. I think you could question why George Will ran with twice the frequency of any other syndicated columnist. But even reader Board appreciates Will's work. "You know whatever he writes will be from a strong conservative perspective, but he will find new, surprising and interesting angles quite often."

Which is what you want on an op-ed page. And I wonder, is there another Molly Ivins out there raging against the establishment with such eloquence and indignation?

Torrey said the op-ed lineup is not set in stone, and he welcomes readers' suggestions. Contact me and I'll pass them along.