Insights into the challenges, benefits of being a columnist for the Post & Courier

“If I have ever offended you with a column, I apologize,” Brian Hicks began his talk as he stepped to the podium last week at the Daniel Island Club. “And if I haven’t, please be patient. I will get around to you eventually,” he deadpanned.

Hicks was on tap as the quarterly speaker for the Daniel Island Speaker Series. He was jokingly deflecting from the introduction, in which master of ceremonies and Rotarian Steve Slifer noted that, “You may love him … or not, depending upon what he wrote that day,” as well as from his reputation for being opinionated.

Hicks is well-known as a metro columnist for The Post & Courier. The title means his job is to write three or four opinion pieces a week, taking a position on various local and state issues.

“The editors describe what I do as having a conversion with the community … I spout off … and because everybody has their own opinion about those things, it creates reaction,” Hicks explained.

Hicks shared several of the difficulties of being a metro columnist, mostly in the form of humorous stories poking fun at himself.

He explained that opinion columnists have to take a side — opining that there’s nothing worse than an opinion columnist who sits on the fence.

As such, it is not unusual for folks to email or approach him, sometimes not in the friendliest of ways, to say they don’t agree with him. His standard response, “I don’t always agree with me either.”

He commented about the trials and tribulations of writing three opinion pieces a week:

“It is hard to care about that many things a week.”

“How can I come up with three opinions this week?”

“How am I going to do JUST three this week?”

Hicks said he knows he is doing a good job when people on both sides of an issue complain about his column, and when his writing generates letters to the editor.

When it comes to writing for the Post & Courier, he said he loves it because, on one level, it has allowed him to write 10 books — most of which came out of articles he wrote for the paper — and on another level, he is able to make a difference through his column writing.

These two benefits came together in his column urging that the federal judicial center be renamed from honoring Fritz Hollings to honoring Judge J. Waties Waring.

Hicks explained how retired Sen. Fritz Hollings specifically asked him to write a column in support of renaming the judicial center after his personal hero, Judge Waring. Hicks noted that it’s the first and only time in history that a person has asked his name be removed from a federal building to honor someone else. And, at Hollings’ urging, Hicks was able to get Sen. Lindsey Graham and Congressman James Clyburn on board in support of the name change.

“That’s what a column can do and what kind of influence you can have sometimes and that’s the reason I love this job so much,” he said.

It would take a whole book to explain why Hollings was so influenced by Waring and how Waring influenced the civil rights movement. And that is just what Hicks did in his most recent book, “In Darkest South Carolina: J. Waties Waring and the secret plan that sparked a civil rights movement.”

The book chronicles the life and story of Charleston’s unlikely civil rights hero, Judge Waring — an eighth-generation Charlestonian whose civil rights activism led to the end of segregation and to his ouster from the city. It is available from Evening Post Books.

And, perhaps looming on the horizon, another benefit. Hicks hinted that Hollywood is interested in turning the book into a mini-series for Netflix or Amazon.

The Daniel Island Speaker Series is sponsored by the Daniel Island Rotary, the Daniel Island Club, the Daniel Island Property Owners Association and the Daniel Island Business Association. Nancy Shipman and Dr. DeMarco, the next scheduled speakers on January 29, 2020, will talk about the tragedies of opioid addiction and alternatives to pain management.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

On the consequences of reporting being labeled as “fake news”:

Hicks said that labeling reporting as fake is very dangerous. He said people need to consider the source when something is labeled “fake news.”

“I can tell you I’ve worked with journalists for 30-something years and they have no interest in making stuff up. They just want to do their job and go home. And generally people who scream ‘fake news’ just don’t like the news that is being reported.”

He said he wished national news agencies would lay off of “Mr. Stable Genius” because it feeds into the fake news belief. Hicks acknowledged that President Trump does say “goofy stuff” sometimes but urged that reporters don’t need to make a story out of it.

On the state of the newspaper industry:

Hicks noted that many cities around the country no longer have local newspapers. He sees that as a dangerous trend as there is no scrutiny over local government, and officials are free to do whatever they want. “That is a problem,” he said.

“If you want to know what is going on in your community, you need a local newspaper,” he added.

He noted that the Post & Courier is family owned, is flexible, and is forward thinking when dealing with the changing news and revenue environment. He noted that the paper is hiring more writers and that it has more content.

He said the paper has changed its business model to web first, noting that digital is what the market dictates but that the website is not nearly as profitable as the print. “We are OK for this generation,” he said of print, but he is uncertain about the future.

On Facebook political ads:

He said it was a stupid decision on Facebook’s part to decide not to fact-check political ads. “It is horrible and Facebook has made me go from loving the internet to hating the internet.”

On speed versus quality:

“I don’t want to be first, I want to be best,” Hicks quoted a previous editor at the Post & Courier as having informed his reporting.

Hicks explained that he thinks the internet has led to a rush to publish and, as a result, people make mistakes that can be interpreted as political bias.

“I hate to see anyone in the news business do anything that hurts its reputation.”