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Matter of Opinion
Often you will find sections of a newspaper, magazine or website dedicated to opinion.
Every newspaper, on every publication day, will have an editorial. This
located in a specific section, often within the features section, and
contained in a box on the top left side of a left-hand page.
The editorial, written by specialist writers but also with legal
responsibility attached to the editor, tells the readers the
newspaper’s stance on a particular issue.
Aside from the editorial, there are sections featuring columns, written
by columnists. People who write these columns provide an opinion on
various issues, criticising or praising, offering solutions or
highlighting lessons in life.
For columns that evoke opinion, it is absolutely compulsory that the
article is bylined. That means, the readers know exactly who wrote it.
This is not necessary for the editorial, because that offers the opinion of the newspaper as an entity.
But opinionated columns, even news features and features for that matter, must have a name attached to them.
Even letters to the editor qualify as an opinion article. They may not
be written by journalists but they are opinions nonetheless. Such
letters must also be backed up by a name or the willingness to unveil
the name if called upon.
Thus, you will often see at the bottom of a letter, “Name and
address supplied”. Letters editors are obligated to ensure that
the true identity of the writer behind every published letter is either
shown with the letter or available for scrutiny if necessary.
One piece of advice for opinion writers I can offer. When you have an
opinion and want to write about it, don’t waver from what you
said.
If you think your government should ban the sitcom Friends, at no point
in your argument should you write: “Although Friends is very
funny…”
If there are arguments against your opinion, address them quickly and
convincingly. For example. “People may say Friends is funny, but
it’s not funny one iota. If it was any more entertaining,
I’d be asleep.”
Stick to your guns. If at any point the reader thinks you don’t
actually believe in your own opinions, you’d have lost all
credibility as a columnist.
Anyway, opinions are great to write, especially if you are passionate
about an issue. Still, even with these, there is a good format to
follow to make writing these easier.
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