You love them, you hate them, you fear them and burn that part of the paper or turn off the screen. Editorials are out there, and are probably one of the most notorious things in the entire world. However it may be the Editorial is a part of the newspaper that posts opinions of the executive editor of that newspaper. They most of the time are about Current Events, and are usually accompanied by a caricature drawing that usually states what the article is about in a one short panel.
These articles are put in for the effect of persuasion. To have the reader rethink his or her stand point on a subject or reinforce that opinion. However, I think that there is more to it than that. Persuasion may be the goal of an Editorial, however it isn’t its only point to it. There is also another part. While it may not persuade you into a new believe, there is a sense of informing people about the subject in question. However, that is not the case most of the time. When you talk to most people they don’t usually have the full story or are basing fact off of information that has been already given through another media to believe that is the truth to it and that’s it. Now you can go off that this is the worse thing that any media can do and that they should take an impartial stance on most things in the news. However the word ‘history’ is ‘his-story’ and is usually subject to opinion on how the event happens. So what happens in the end is that facts are taken at face value. Its goes back to the idea of profiling that I have mentioned before in another article. That some people take it on what it looks like on the outside and judges it on those parts. Sad part of life yes but it happens. That’s why I think that the Editorial is an important part of the newspaper. It may seem like an unnecessary evil but you can get more out of it than that.
That all being said I still have to say that editorialist still miss that most of the time. When it comes down to it there is more potential to these articles then they are given right now. So I’m going to list off some guidelines to how to be a better Editorialist (Yes I know this may seem like pandering to my greatness, but its not, I want to show that there’s more to the job then having an opinion on the things.)
1.Research the Subject (using multiple sources).
Talk about one thing that is mostly looked over in the Editorial process in most cases (not all there are good one’s out there). Research is the backbone to most things in life. If you don’t know how or why something is you should look out to someone else and ask him or her. This follows for article writers as well. When you do the story, you should know the background to it as well. The information may lay out why an event folded out into this regard or how certain things happened and what was the outcome for them. When I did research for an article I did on Columbine and its after effects (during College and ten to twelve years after the event) I went out and not only get the a detailed description on how the event happened but also the after effect, multiple psychological studies on the two boys in question, and the journals of the two boys. When reading them I found some amazing things out on how they thought and how they acted as people. When I wrote the article, I got an A on the project. It is just amazing what you can do when you put a little more time into something.
2.Sit and stew
This is one of things that most people forget to do. After all the research is done, most people want to get onto the topic of writing away. This is something I don’t agree with. Mainly because the subject is so new to the person its not yet settled. It’s like drinking a cup of ramen noodles that hasn’t fully cooked yet, you may get the meal done faster, but you also don’t have a good end result to enjoy. Now most of the time you don’t have time to let that settle I do understand. In the News business your on a tight schedule and don’t have an entire day to contemplate on something. However, it is a disservice to not your listeners, but also the article you’re writing if your not at least given the information you uncovered time to process through your skull. If you want an estimated time I would say that you should take an hour or two to think over the information and let the opinions come to you.
3.Explain your answers
One of things that can no longer do in the world is say something without any reason or a really bland one. No longer are the days you can just say, “Because god told me so!” or “Just because”. If you wan to have people to be compelled by your article you need substance and this is where it fits in. You must tell why. This can fall into many subjects of writing such as story telling in comics, movies, video games, what have you. You must tell why the characters actions are they are, and making them decision that makes sense for the character. This also falls into editorial as well; you must explain why your opinions are your opinions. The must also have merit that anyone can agree with or understand. However, that being said…
4.Don’t be afraid.
You should never be afraid of your opinion. A long time ago my father told me that opinions are like assholes, everyone has them and they all stink. Even though you don’t have the opinion of the usual person. You should be able to make that opinion loud, mainly because variety is the spice of life, and it makes your argument even more valid. So you shouldn’t be afraid of your opinion, because your opinion maybe bad, everyone else is (yes even mine).
So there is my short list on how to be better editorialists. In the end what an editorialist should be is a person who not only expresses his opinion, but also must be able to make you think about your own opinion. To expand on your opinion or to reinforce there believes already. That is what an Editorialist should be and what their job should be. I know it’s not a perfect world, and that everyone would not agree with this opinion. Well then I think I did my job well enough to make you think about whether or not this is what an Editorialist job is.
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