Evolving editorial pages: give readers more: feed hunger for opinion, interaction.

In the newspaper industry, the cuts just keep on coming.

News holes are shrinking, and so are newsrooms. And the opinion pages haven't escaped unscathed.

But at the NCEW Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, two publishers rejected the less-is-more-profitable mantra that has taken hold at many newspapers. Mac Tully, publisher of The Kansas City Star, and John Oppedahl, formerly a publisher in Phoenix and San Francisco, argued that bigger is better--at least for opinion sections.

Readers are seeking opportunities to interact, Tully said, and the opinion pages are among the best places to engage them. With that in mind, the Star has gone big, allotting more space for opinions every day of the week.

The decision to devote three full pages to editorials, columns, and letters on weekdays already is paying dividends, Tully said.

"More people are reading,' he said. "It's about choices .... What investment brings returns?"

His views provide a stark contrast to the cost-cutting strategies implemented at many other newspapers.

This year, the Missoulian in Montana lost its voice--its editorial voice, at least--when opinion editor Steve Woodruff left. For almost four months, the paper replaced most staff editorials with guest columns, effectively ceding the Missoulian's bully pulpit. The change spurred scrutiny in the industry and the community, and a successor was named in October.

In San Jose, the Mercury News called a halt to its six-page Sunday opinion section, telling readers that the resources would be better spent on news coverage.

At the convention, Oppedahl said he hoped to help other papers avoid similar reductions. He pointed to lack of research quantifying reader interest in opinion sections, suggesting that a dearth of data has cleared the way for cuts on editorial and op-ed pages.

Oppedahl said The Opinion Pool project, which aims to develop templates for the world of new media, could help newspapers gauge the value readers place on opinion pages. The pilot program will include focus groups and will track reader responses to new ideas.

The findings could provide editorial page editors with the ammunition they need to make a pitch for more space--and ideally, more resources, he said.

The Star's Tully told NCEW members that the key is to keep evolving in this changing media environment. Then, he said, newspapers won't just survive, "we will thrive."

Colleen McCain Nelson is editorial writer for The Dallas Morning News. Email: cmccain@dallasnews.com