Middle Ground Blog

What is “Middle Ground”?

A blog of commentary, much of it political. The objective of Middle Ground is to publish pieces which offer perspective and balance on the issues of the day. Middle Ground does not aim to be flagrantly contrarian or alarmist, instead relying on cool-headed analysis as the lens through which to see the world.

 

Who is responsible for Middle Ground?

This blog is maintained by Ethan Wu, a student, who can be reached via the Contact portal. Mr. Wu pens, or perhaps keyboards, the editorials, which represent the blog’s organizational stance. Though he writes the editorials alone, Mr. Wu strongly believes in the stylistic convention of using plural personal pronouns such as “we” and “us,” despite Middle Ground not being a newspaper or having an editorial board. Pluralizing the authorship of an editorial directs focus away from its writer and toward its argument. In an age of ad hominem Twitter attacks, this choice remains appropriate. 

 

Aside from editorials, columns are the work of their respective authors, as is indicated in the sub-header of each piece.

 

What is the editorial position of Middle Ground?

This blog writes from a position of political centrism. Middle Ground primarily features writing on domestic U.S. affairs, but it keeps an attentive eye on happenings all around the globe. Editorial pieces are designated by the word “EDITORIAL” in the sub-header. (Obviously.)

 

What’s the difference between commentary, a column, and an editorial anyway? Aren’t these all just blog posts?

Yes! All of the posts featured on this blog are, by definition, blog posts. However, if you’ve ever spent any time down the rabbit hole of obscure blogs, you will know that it is quite easy for any and all blog posts to become one amorphous, indistinguishable blob. Middle Ground, therefore, borrows heavily from the lexicon of print media in order to make these blog posts a little more distinct from one another.

 

Commentary refers broadly to any interpretive or analytic piece which aims to provide insight on an issue. It may adopt a political stance, but needn’t do so to qualify as a commentary. Indeed, Middle Ground is open to commentary from across the political spectrum, as well as to pieces that eschew politics. Both columns and editorials are forms of commentary.

 

A column is an opinion piece with a recurring author, who is referred to as a “columnist.” The columns at Middle Ground are thematic, meaning that each piece in a column follows a distinct aim or structure.

 

To give an example, Middle Ground’s first column, “Discourse in a Discordant Society,” provides first-person political and social commentary with a looser structure than an editorial. Conversely, our “Musings” column is an informal commentary on the news, with each column discussing multiple, unconnected stories.

 

(Fun fact: op-ed does not stand for “opinion editorial.” Rather, it means “opposite the editorial page,” as per the traditional location of an op-ed in a newspaper.)

 

An editorial is an unsigned piece reflecting the organizational position of Middle Ground. Editorials tend to be more formalistic, and are intended to both persuade and inform. For more, please refer to the above question regarding editorial position.