An education in editorial writing: you don't have to alienate or call names, but you do have to take a position and stand behind it.1) Editorial writers can be wrong. What they should never be is in doubt. If I read one more middle-of-the-road, on-the-one-hand-this-but-on-the-other-hand-that editorial in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , I'm going to yak. I'm not talking about being extreme. I'm not talking about writing like Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative columnist, political commentator and best-selling author. She frequently appears on television, radio and as a speaker at public and private events. (God forbid) in a way that only alienates those who don't see things from your point of view. I'm talking I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, noted for launching vocalist Kate Ceberano. History After the break-up of the Melbourne-based experimental funk band Essendon Airport in 1983, members Robert Goodge (guitar), Ian Cox (saxophone) and Barbara Hogarth about taking a line, as H.L. Mencken said, taking a stand, changing the world, etc. Editorial writing should be forceful--with a clear purpose, and a clear message--and change minds. You can't do that by calling names a la Coulter, but you also can't do that by standing on the fence and navel-gazing like so many editorialists. I blame most of the milk-sop on editorial pages today on editorial boards (I used to work for one), which seem to be only interested in consensus above all else. 2) I like what Kane Webb said about reading books. Paul Greenberg laughed at me when I first started working here, when I asked if the paper would pay to send me to graduate school. I told him I wanted to "further my education." He said, "Boy, read a book!" So I downloaded the best one hundred books of all time from the American Library Association American Library Association, founded 1876, organization whose purpose is to increase the usefulness of books through the improvement and extension of library services. . I'm trying to read them all by the time I turn forty. Would've been a lot easier if I'd started when I was twenty-five instead of thirty-five. 3) Editorial writers also allow for personality in the writing. Who says editorials have to sound like they were written by the staff of The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times? Who says they have to be boring? Who says you can't quote Father Guido Sarducci Father Guido Sarducci is a fictional character made famous by American comedian Don Novello. Sarducci, a chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, works in the United States as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. ? Believe it or not, editorial writers aren't born dullards. It just seems that way. 4) This is the most fun job in the newsroom. We're all the time laughing. And trying to top each other's stuff. And take our writing to a second level, as Paul says. You read most editorials around the country today, and it seems as though these cats are just sleepwalking sleepwalking /sleep·walk·ing/ (slep´wawk?ing) somnambulism. sleep·walk·ing n. The act of walking or performing another activity associated with wakefulness while asleep or in a sleeplike state. to retirement. I can't understand why. Editorial writing is a hoot! Or should be. David Barham is an editorial writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. E-mail dbarham@ arkansasonline.com |
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