The confusion regarding the relevance of the edit page is best reflected in the constant changing of its format. Those dailies which carry it are forever redesigning its look, adding or subtracting elements, mucking around with the Leaders (The Times, London, has shifted its editorials to Page 2, a move for which it has taken flak), truncating readers’ letters, thus truncating the only forum where they can be part of the aforementioned conversation.... The demolition continues relentlessly.
I have no delusions about the sacred space’s popularity. It is certainly not the page readers turn to first. (W.H. Auden confessed he picked up his morning paper, read the headlines to see if some crazy had blown up the world and then went straight to the sports pages.) Nevertheless, it is the page which binds the paper; it is the "centre" which "holds" the other sections. In short, it is the soul of the paper. In a fiercely dissenting press, how is the reader to decide what the stand of his favourite paper is? Mr Kumar of Chandni Chowk needs to know what to make of Kapil Sibal’s ideas on education when there are several conflicting views on his proposals. By all means, create a modern, reader-friendly edit page, but don’t deny readers necessary and thoughtful insight.
I would much rather have a newspaper without an edit page than one which is printed for the benefit of the inestimable Kareena Kapoor!