Editorials

This week we focused on writing editorials. We started by looking at notes on how to write editorials from http://home.pacific.net.au/~greg.hub/editorial.html and http://www.snn-rdr.ca/snn/nr_reporterstoolbox/writingeditorials.html

We looked at some previous editorials; looking at how influential a good editorial can be. In particular the editorial, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/features/dcmovies/allthepresidentsmen.htm which is from the Washington Post, about President Nixon. This editorial was so influential that it forced the President to resign.


For this weeks assignment we had to write an editorial, for a specific publication; but any publication. We could choose any topic to base our editorial on.


For my editorial I chose to write about how health and safety has gone over-the-top in Britain. I chose to write it for the Daily Mail newspaper, as I found a lot of articles on this subject reflecting the same views as me. Because we had to write for a publication, we had to research the publication; looking at the writing styles, language and views on current affairs.


I found writing the editorial quite hard as I was writing an opinion piece; I was very tempted to use the pronoun, "I". However, from studying editorials we learnt that should try to avoid using this pronoun wherever possible because, by writing an editorial, you are voicing the opinion of the publication and the community of readers. Also, another feature of editorial writing I found challenging was getting the balance between writing an article and writing an opinion piece. The editorial had to be at least 500 words long, so I was tempted to fill most of the editorial with to much information, and not enough opinion. However, I think I managed to get the balance right.


Next week we will be analysing magazines.