Sometime this week, eight of us representing The Honolulu Advertiser's editorial board will sit down and hash out our opinions about one of the biggest political races in years: incumbent U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka versus U.S. Rep. Ed Case.

While I'm not sure where each of us stands on the pros and cons of the two gentlemen, I know it will be a vigorous discussion, and I'm looking forward to it, and to the others that follow. It also makes me a bit apprehensive, not because I don't have opinions but because I've spent a career in newspapers trained not to give them out.

As editor of The Advertiser, I oversee both the editorial pages and the news-gathering operation. Not all newspapers have such a structure. Many editorial-page editors report directly to the publisher to reinforce the separation between news and opinion. But in our case, I have responsibility for both sides, and this is where it gets tricky. For the most part, readers do not easily understand the clear divide between opinion on the editorial page and news stories in the rest of the paper that are designed to be shaped solely by fact.

But that division exists at every newspaper — and it is important that it does.

Let me stipulate up front that many readers see bias in news stories or headlines all the time, and that often has to do with what the story has to say. Too many stories about deaths in Iraq may be seen as evidence of bias against President Bush. Repeated reports into Hawai'i schools' low test scores may be viewed as a deliberate attempt to make the state Department of Education look bad. Neither assumption is correct.

Some readers who perceive a political slant to our editorial page naturally assume it extends to news stories, but it shouldn't. I may know the political affiliation or personal view of a particular reporter, but I should never see a hint of it in his or her news stories.

Editorial writers, on the other hand, are paid to express opinions, just like columnists. The stronger and sounder the opinion, the better.

Like most people, I have opinions, but those opinions do not not find their way into our news coverage. I'm not involved in the daily formulation and production of editorials and commentary, but as is the case with all newsroom content that appears in The Advertiser, I am ultimately responsible for that section of our newspaper, too.

I won't sit in on every political endorsement. I'll leave that to my colleagues on the editorial board whose names you see under the bottom editorial opposite this page. But I do have one of eight votes and will weigh in on some of the races where my opinion might be of interest.

Because we represent the state's largest newspaper, we feel obligated to make political endorsements in just about every contested race, from the Honolulu City Council all the way to charter and constitutional amendments. In all, we are endorsing in more than 70 contested races. Making choices in races such as U.S. Senate, the two congressional seats, the two Honolulu City Council races and the Board of Education will come before the Sept. 23 primary because they'll either be decided outright or the party's top vote getters will move into the general election. The rest will come in October.

I've heard arguments over the years that we should not be endorsing political candidates because our opinions are not important, or that it's wrong to tell readers what to think. Our opinions are no more important than yours, and our offering them in no way suggests we feel superior. They are provided for you to weigh against what you've already learned about a candidate or ballot issue. Rejecting our advice won't hurt our feelings.

We hope we've provided enough news coverage for you to make an informed choice about a candidate, but if not, our editorial board has done a lot of the homework for you. They've either met the candidate in our editorial board meetings, attended a community forum or debate, sent them a questionnaire (as we do with legislative races) or monitored specific campaigns. They also have scrutinized voting records of incumbents and other election data.

It might surprise readers to learn that that not every endorsement choice will be in sync with our editorial policy.

"The candidates we choose don't always share our board's position on every issue," says Jeanne Mariani-Belding, The Advertiser's editorial and opinion editor. "The point is what kind of leadership or stewardship they would provide for our community, for our state. We feel it's important to have candidates whose views vary to some degree to enhance the quality of debate and ultimately improve the quality of legislation."

The newspaper endorsement business comes with a few givens: more candidates will be unhappy with us than thrilled; voters will agree with our endorsements in about only half the races; and many readers will still believe our news coverage is swayed by our editorial stance.

Endorsements are one of the most important services we can provide in a community where not everyone feels compelled to cast a ballot. Given all the other advice we give on our editorial pages, wouldn't we be remiss if we were silent when it comes to electing our next leaders?