Chapter 9 - Reading M Aterial

COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN
SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION
CAMPUS JOURNALISM
Chapter 9. Personal Viewpoint: Writing Columns
Column Writing: Its Nature and Concepts
Many young writers prefer to write to columns rather than straight news or features.
Straight news is deemed to be boring—covering press conferences and reporting who said
what. Features stories involve too much reporting and require discipline to follow a set
structure. Columns, which are essentially opinion pieces, are much freer, therefore easier. Or so
it seems.
Anybody can be trained to write straight news because it is very mechanical. Feature
articles, though also somewhat formulaic, are harder because they require good writing, but
column writing is the hardest type of writing because it requires good thinking.
To write a good column requires more than just the ability to articulate an opinion. Your
opinions must make sense, provide insight and be convincing. You must do all this in an
entertaining way.
It requires you to be almost like a lawyer. Through your arguments, you will need to
convince the jury (your readers) that your client (your viewpoint) is right. Shaping a powerful
argument takes practice and requires both breadth and depth of knowledge as well as the
ability to critically analyze a particular issue.
So, is there a methodology for training someone to become a “good thinking”? no one is
sure about that but it helps you when you are well-read, inquisitive and willing to listen to
various viewpoints. “if you are someone who like to write but does not want to do research or
think deeply about an issue, forget about column writing,” a writer said.
Studying your role models will help you develop your own voice. Follow the work of
several established columnist and analyze their writing to discover how they project their
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arguments and how they make effective use of anecdotes, quotes and statistics. From there,
you can learn the tricks of the trade and eventually develop your own distinctive voice and
style.
Column writing is very different from other forms of writing because unlike straight
news and feature writing, columns have dedicated readerships. A columnist develops a
following because his/her readers feel they can gain knowledge, insight and entertainment
from reading his/her writings. It is a great honor to be given a regular column; however,
remember, to do it well requires a great amount of dedication to the craft.
Lastly, be ready for criticism. If you can dish it out, you have got to be able to take as
good as you got. When you take a strong stance on anything, there is bound to be someone
offended by what you write. And they will write to you – often in less than polite language – to
let you know exactly what they think of you and your opinions. It goes with the territory.
Types of Column
1. Editorial (news commentary) Column. It comments or interprets timely subjects. Other

columnists writing this sometimes make use of short paragraphs on several topics. It
may treat one subject per issue. The sources are current news, observation, interview,
commendable undertakings or accomplishments and investigation.
2. Variety or Humor Column. This is an entertainment feature made of short items, such
as philosophical comments, a play on names, local humor, parodies, and quotes of
unintentional blunders, light thrust at school happenings, puns, jokes and light verse.
Generally, it must be funny, clean, in good taste, pertinent to school life and original.
3. Personal or Chatter Column. It is a column about well-known persons. All materials
should be true and all suggestions are complimentary.
4. Opinion Column. It concerns about the readers’ views and may take the form of the poll
or “inquiring reporter” and the letter to the editor.
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5. Exchange Column. This is a collection of items culled by the exchange editors from
papers of other schools. Topics may be crisp bits of interesting news or they may
contain suggestions for the students of the writer’s own school. Comment may or may
not be added.
6. Book Column. Consists of several short reviews which help the reader find titles for
book reports, the review is limited to 50 words. This includes the title, author, a general
idea of the content, a brief comment on its possible use for the reader. More detailed
review contains some information about the author.
Tips in Writing a Column
1. Write with conviction. Put forward your opinion as something you truly believe in.
argue your case with conviction. Come down hard on one side of an issue. Be
unequivocal. Never ever sit on the fence. By writing with conviction, you may opt to use
the techniques of persuasion discussed in the previous chapter.
2. Maintain your focus. Make your column about one thing and one thing alone. Do not
intersperse the message with another topic; it makes the column convoluted. When
such happens, your column will be difficult to understand. Maintain your focus. That is
the only way to make a strong impression on your readers and to convince them that
your point of view is correct.
3. Understand opposing viewpoints. Be mindful of the opposing arguments. Anticipate
objections to your point of view and deal with them convincingly with sound reasoning.
If you are not familiar with the opposing view, you will not be able to argue your points
well.
4. Refer to facts. Your arguments, however logical, will not carry much weight unless they
are accompanied by facts that support your position. Do not overdo this and inundate
you readers with statistics and figures. However, do make use of facts from reputable
sources.
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5. Use analogies. Analogies are useful for illustrating a point, especially when the topic you
are writing about is somewhat complicated or technical. Using a simple analogy from
everyday life makes the issue more understandable and relevant to the reader.
6. Be critical. People like reading columnist who dare to criticize real life people – not just
nameless concepts and policies. Naming names might create a bit of controversy but as
long as you do not libel anyone and don’t go overboard in your criticism, it works well to
make your column an interesting and exciting read.
7. Do reporting. It is possible to write columns without doing any reporting, but the best
columns typically involve some form of reporting. When you report, you get on the
ground and you gain better sense of what is really happening. When you write from an
ivory tower, it shows.
8. Localize and personalize. Localize your story whenever possible. Also tie it to some
personal experience – yours or that of someone you know. This makes an otherwise
esoteric and distant topic more real, relevant and memorable to the reader.
9. Be passionate. Generally, people do not like to hear a soft or passive voice when they
read a column. So be aggressive – even arrogant, to an extent. People want to see
passion. They want to feel energized. If the issue does not seem to excite you as the
writer, it is certainly not going to excite the reader.
10. Provide a solution. Last but not least, do not just raise an issue. Have the conviction to
suggest a solution. Columns that criticize certain policies but offer no solutions are
useless. People read columns because they want to gain insight and answers. If you do
not provide those, you have failed as a columnist.

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COLEGIO DE DAGUPAN

SCHOOL OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Chapter 9. Personal Viewpoint: Writing Columns

Column Writing: Its Nature and Concepts

1. Editorial (news commentary) Column. It comments or interprets timely subjects. Other

Tips in Writing a Column

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