Briggs' mailbag: Thoughts on journalism, Peyton Manning's statue and wrestling heel turns

It's mailbag time!

Last week, I put out a call for questions and received more than 80 responses through a Google form — which, it turns out, a lot of people didn't like.

Given the volume of questions, I'm going to make this mailbag a recurring feature, at least until people lose interest. If you want to send questions, you can skip the Google form and email me at the address below or use the comments section on the article page.

I'd like to include people's names with questions in future rounds, but since many didn't come that way last week, I'll answer some anonymous ones here.

That's it for housekeeping. Let's get to it.

Dennis Anderson: What drew you back to IndyStar from Axios?

I got an offer I liked to lead IndyStar's opinion section, which is a space I love working in and where I see chances to expand the audience and engage in meaningful conversations.

I don't want to overstate the importance of publishing opinions — after all, my past coverage of Diego Morales didn't turn out to matter much — but I think our discourse can benefit from more rational voices pushing back against tribal instincts and that's what I hope to provide.

On a personal level, I love the freedom of this job. As my former Axios editor can tell you, my favorite work style amounts to something like, "Briggs writes whatever Briggs wants however Briggs wants to write it." That doesn't fly in most jobs, and I understand that, but it does (mostly) work in opinion writing as long as I use my freedom responsibly.

There also are a lot of great people at IndyStar who I missed and am glad to be working with again. I was sad to leave Axios, but I'm returning to one of the best jobs in journalism.

Do you believe that there is any impartial journalism out there somewhere? Is it even possible?

This is a controversial question in my business. I prefer emphasizing fairness over objectivity, a distinction not everyone sees, but which I think matters.

Here's what I mean: Whether I'm writing a column or a traditional news article, I'm constrained by my lived experience as a straight, white Christian male from a small Michigan town. I grew up leaning strongly conservative, but then changed my mind about a lot of things (though not everything) as I went to college and lived in big cities for the past 20 years.

That's my story. Working in the news business requires us to cover people and topics from different perspectives than our own. We can't detach ourselves from our own experiences and personal biases, but we can work hard to ensure we are listening to a wide range of people and sharing the most generous versions of every perspective that might be relevant to a particular story — while also clearly distinguishing indisputable facts from debatable points of contention.

To me, that's how news consumers should judge what they see. And, yes, I think there is a ton of good and fair journalism out there, including here at IndyStar.

I want to be clear, though: As an opinion columnist, my work is explicitly biased and intended to persuade, which is different from the objective of other reporters.

Have you ever played an organized sport?

I played baseball and football growing up. I was horrible at baseball and mostly sat the bench (but did hit two home runs in high school) and I was slightly above average at football, where I played on the offensive and defensive lines.

I enjoyed sports much more than school, but was unremarkable at both.

Julie Bush: Welcome back! What do you think is the biggest obstacle Indianapolis faces in the near future outside of crime, fair housing and infrastructure?

That's crossing out a lot! I think the next-biggest challenge is improving the basic quality of life for everyone who lives in Indianapolis. The city is so sprawling and resource-constrained that, no matter how many ribbons get cut, every new investment leaves at least tens of thousands of people without access to a park or a trail or some other basic amenity that comes standard in a newer suburb.

People laugh at me over this, but my favorite city service that's been added in recent years is street sweeping. Biking on some streets used to feel like riding through gravel. Street sweeping fixed that, and that's just one example of how incremental changes can improve quality of life.

But, for every person who benefits from a new or improved service like street sweeping, you can find someone else who will tell you they can't get their trash picked up on a regular schedule. If people can't count on basic services and amenities, and they have the ability to move, they'll leave.

Multiple people asked: Do you think IndyStar will ever have another conservative column?

I hope so! That would mean, first, that we're adding a new columnist in some capacity and, second, that we've found a strong conservative voice.

The second part is challenging now because there are basically two types of conservative pundits: pro-Trump voices espousing lots of bad-faith positions (Brian Stelter's new book, "Network of Lies," documents how Fox News opinion hosts say much different things in private than they do on the air) and anti-Trump conservatives who have lost influence on the right and mostly appeal to progressives (see: The Bulwark).

Still, I think it's important to offer conservative perspectives on local matters and I'll be looking for ways to do it.

Bryce Mayer: I have a question about U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin. Why is she prioritizing the need to limit immigration? Every email I receive from her office lists that as her issue No. 1. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Republican voters care a lot about this issue, so Republican politicians talk a lot about it.

What's the greatest heel turn in the history of professional wrestling?

A great and timely question for Royal Rumble week.

The best heel turn ever happened when Shawn Michaels threw Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window in January 1992.

It was not only a well told story, with a memorable betrayal, but also it propelled Michaels from vanilla babyface to arguably the best pro wrestler in history. If a wrestler is going to break bad, then that choice should lead somewhere, and there's no one who rode a heel turn to greater heights than Michaels.

Am I the only one who thinks the Peyton Manning statue needs to be replaced/redone? After having looked at other statues of sports legends, this one just doesn't inspire me. His Pro Football Hall of Fame bust came closer.

I hadn't thought too hard about this before, so I just looked back at the statue and it seems cool to me. It has sort of an old-school warrior look, which is how we like to remember our football heroes.

There are plenty of people who don't like Manning's bust, which you say is better. I'd be interested in hearing from any art critics who might want to weigh in on this.

That's all for this week! You can send questions for next week to james.briggs@indystar.com or use the form below.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Briggs' mailbag: Talking journalism, Peyton Manning's statue and more