Opinion editor Clay Wirestone works at the Kansas Reflector office in Topeka on April 26, 2022. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Over my tenure at Kansas Reflector, which began three years ago Friday , I’ve written the equivalent of four good-sized books.
You can find that work contained in 355 columns, adding up to 349,793 words. For reference, novels by authors other than George R.R. Martin and nonfiction tomes usually consist of 80,000-90,000 words. These numbers might surprise some casual readers, but don’t fret.
I didn’t know them myself until a few months ago.
On a whim and for reference, I documented my Reflector work in a massive spreadsheet. It lists a mountain of material, an orgy of opinions, some of which still make solid sense. Others seemed like a good idea at the time. Since August 2021, I’ve covered the Kansas Legislature (obviously), along with ghost towns (interesting) and the mossy leaf-tailed gecko (huh?).
I started the project because I was curious to know how much I had focused on different subjects and when. Sure I had a general idea, but specifics eluded me. You can’t deny that 355 columns are a lot of opinions to keep straight.
Specifically, I wanted to know how much I had written about hot-button political figures such as Donald Trump, Kris Kobach and the Koch brothers. I was also curious to know how often I tackled subjects such as LGBTQ+ rights, racism and journalism. I’m not a natural spreadsheet guy, but I rolled up my sleeves and did my best.
Here’s the result.
All the usual disclaimers apply to this project and then some. Your mileage may vary.
I didn’t tag every possible subject. Item columns, in which I write multiple chunks about different subjects, have their own category. It would overcomplicate things to tag each section separately. Subject tags don’t apply to glancing mentions of a topic. I’ve mentioned Kobach more than 10 times, for example, but he’s been a major subject in just 10 pieces.
Likewise, while Trump has dominated political life in the country for the past nine years, he’s been the dominant subject of only 23 columns — 6.7% of my total. By comparison, I’ve written 159 pieces focused on the Kansas Legislature.
You can look through the spreadsheet to make other comparisons.
For those interested in a partisan breakdown, I have written 24 columns about the Democratic Party and 72 about the Republican Party. Of columns in which I shared a specific view about either party (as opposed to individual members ), Democrats received favorable mention in three and criticism in 13, while Republicans received a thumb’s up in 15 and a finger wag in 51.
Given the GOP’s dominance in Kansas politics, this strikes me as more than reasonable.
I’ve written frequently about journalism — 45 columns — and devoted 16 to the raid on the Marion County Record newspaper. With precious little coverage of the field by those in the field, I’ve seen this as an important niche to fill.
More than three-quarters of my columns included reporting. That means I talked to sources, dug through documents, crunched numbers or otherwise took extra steps while writing. Many of those columns might survive without the bonus dose of data, but it distinguishes what I’m doing from your uncle’s grumpy Facebook post.
Still, I’m not a reporter. I’m an opinion editor and columnist who uses all the resources at my disposal. The distinction matters, especially given how often I find inspiration in the work of sterling journalists such editor Sherman Smith , senior reporter Tim Carpenter and reporter Allison Kite .
Democracy benefits from their work, as does this opinion writer. On my three-year anniversary with the Reflector, I couldn’t ask for better compatriots and colleagues.
Unfortunately, many readers only see a fraction of what the Reflector publishes. Social media algorithms surface a mere handful of stories, when not actively working to suppress others. Our daily newsletter offer a comprehensive overview, but emails can be missed or hidden in spam folders. The result? Even our biggest fans can miss stories and columns.
My hope for today, then, is that our readers look through the spreadsheet embedded above for columns that you don’t recognize. Then browse through our website for stories you haven’t read.
Take a minute or two to read them. You’ll understand why I feel so fortunate to work here.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here .
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