Opinions are like noses: everyone has them. We all have opinions on culture, politics, fashion, morality, law, education, and public manners. Yet unlike noses, opinions don't just exist as part of a natural process. Rather, each of us cultivates our opinions based on our experiences and by considering the opinions of others. Often, our opinions are influenced by our friends and family, but in order to be more informed, people often turn to experts and journalists. Yes, despite their reputation as being unbiased sources of facts, news is in the opinion business.
While this may seem counterintuitive, news media started as strictly opinion piece. As the Enlightenment began in the 1700s and the social centers of European cities moved from the town square to the coffee shops, periodicals like The Spectator started printing persuasive essays. These magazines crossed the Atlantic, and newspapers at the time of the American Revolution were less about reporting the events of the day and more about telling people what they should think about the events of the day. Journalists saw it as their responsibility to inform the (mostly illiterate) public about why they should care about changes in law, politics, or technology. It wasn't until the realist movement of the late 1800s that news strove to be objective and impartial (though this wouldn't become common practice until the early twentieth century). However, opinions never truly left newspapers, and in the age of social media, the opinion article has made a resurgence in recent years. In the words of the Pulitzer Prize judging rubric, a good opinion uses "clearness of style, moral purpose, [and] sound reason" which gives it the "power to influence public opinion."
While this may seem counterintuitive, news media started as strictly opinion piece. As the Enlightenment began in the 1700s and the social centers of European cities moved from the town square to the coffee shops, periodicals like The Spectator started printing persuasive essays. These magazines crossed the Atlantic, and newspapers at the time of the American Revolution were less about reporting the events of the day and more about telling people what they should think about the events of the day. Journalists saw it as their responsibility to inform the (mostly illiterate) public about why they should care about changes in law, politics, or technology. It wasn't until the realist movement of the late 1800s that news strove to be objective and impartial (though this wouldn't become common practice until the early twentieth century). However, opinions never truly left newspapers, and in the age of social media, the opinion article has made a resurgence in recent years. In the words of the Pulitzer Prize judging rubric, a good opinion uses "clearness of style, moral purpose, [and] sound reason" which gives it the "power to influence public opinion."
Types of Opinions
The most common opinion article is the op-ed, which is the opinion of an informed author. These articles are often on large issues and events going on in the community--opinions on other media like films or books are covered by reviews. Op-eds are so common that the opinions section of many papers are called the op-ed section. Op-eds are not just written by members of the newspaper staff--if an expert on a topic or a popular figure wants to make their opinion heard, they can write an op-ed and submit it to the paper for publication. Note that this applies to informed and expert opinions--if a member of the general public submits their opinion, it is considered a letter to the editor, or a passionate yet uninformed opinion. Occasionally, a staff writer will become well-known for their op-eds and receive a column, or a regular assignment writing their opinion on a specific subject. There are popular humor columns, romance columns, political columns, sports columns, advice columns, and lifestyle columns.
Perhaps the rarest the most recognizable opinion article is the editorial. An editorial is often thought of as the voice of the paper and is meant to voice the opinions of the news staff on an important topic. Editorials are sometimes written by an editor or are left unsigned, but they are always implied to be from the publication itself. This makes editorials tricky, as it endorses or amplifies the opinion given by the power of the entire news staff. This is why editorials should be rare. A newspaper that is always speaking its subjective opinion is not a reliable one, so it’s important to limit use of editorials so their power is not diluted.
Perhaps the rarest the most recognizable opinion article is the editorial. An editorial is often thought of as the voice of the paper and is meant to voice the opinions of the news staff on an important topic. Editorials are sometimes written by an editor or are left unsigned, but they are always implied to be from the publication itself. This makes editorials tricky, as it endorses or amplifies the opinion given by the power of the entire news staff. This is why editorials should be rare. A newspaper that is always speaking its subjective opinion is not a reliable one, so it’s important to limit use of editorials so their power is not diluted.
The Structure of Opinion Articles
Opinions generally follow the same format as essays, starting with a lede that clearly states the thesis of the argument, followed by paragraphs that make a claim, provide evidence, and then explain how that evidence proves the claim. This is called deductive reasoning and is the foundation of a good opinion: start with a premise, provide smaller claims backed by evidence to prove those claims, then conclude that your premise if correct. This structure is reflected by the deductive pyramid structure, with the premise on top supported by the claims supported by the evidence supported by a call to action. Some opinion articles try inductive reasoning, which is the opposite--they start by laying out several example and draw a conclusion based on those observations. This is problematic because on counterexample can shatter an inductive argument, while a deductive argument can stand up to scrutiny better.
So what should a lede for an opinion article look like? Typically, opinion articles use narrative ledes, telling a relevant story to the topic and then dovetailing into the thesis. Opinions can also use shock lede to get attention right away, and sometimes even use more traditional news ledes to emphasize the authority of the opinion. The body then follows the essay structure of claim-data-warrant and, like an essay, should balance the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos while avoiding any rhetorical fallacies. |
Finally, the article should conclude with a call to action--a clear statement of what the reader should do in reaction to the article. For example, the call to action at the end of an article about climate change may be to vote against a certain ballot measure or to stop buying products by a certain manufacturer or be even as simple as encouraging readers to look at how much they throw away in the trash each week. But readers need to be told to do something to be effective, something that is broadly actionable and impacts everyday life. After all, it's easier to get someone to do something than to make them believe something.
The type of call to action depends on the nature of the article. Opinion articles have four distinct purposes: praise, criticism, warning, and endorsement. Praise involves addressing why something is beneficial and persuades the stakeholders reading it that they have done the right thing. Criticism is the opposite and seeks to convince stakeholders that they have made the wrong decision and should be held accountable. Warnings seek to convince all readers that a future event will bring problems and we have to take steps now to prevent it (these are usually tied to events like an election). Endorsement is stating that the author supports a person or cause unequivocally—many op-eds give political candidates their endorsement during elections.
Opinion articles are (obviously) all persuasive in nature and can use subjective language (like I, me, and you). Yet good opinions are not just biased diatribes--they should come from a place of expertise. Just like a news article, there should be researched facts supporting every claim. This makes the author an authority, either through their personal expertise in the topic or through a strong foundation of research. This is important, as the reader wants more than just your opinion--they need to know your opinion is a good one to know, that it matters. After all, the whole point of reading an opinion piece is to get a different perspective on a matter--even if the reader goes in with the same opinion, they read the piece to learn more. If you don't have the authority to convince the reader that you know what you are talking about, you will be rejected (worse, if your facts turn out to be untrue, your whole article may be publicly criticized). When in doubt about your authority to speak on a topic in an informed way, follow the "80-20 rule" employed by The New York Times: make 80% of your article information and only 20% opinion.
Opinion articles are (obviously) all persuasive in nature and can use subjective language (like I, me, and you). Yet good opinions are not just biased diatribes--they should come from a place of expertise. Just like a news article, there should be researched facts supporting every claim. This makes the author an authority, either through their personal expertise in the topic or through a strong foundation of research. This is important, as the reader wants more than just your opinion--they need to know your opinion is a good one to know, that it matters. After all, the whole point of reading an opinion piece is to get a different perspective on a matter--even if the reader goes in with the same opinion, they read the piece to learn more. If you don't have the authority to convince the reader that you know what you are talking about, you will be rejected (worse, if your facts turn out to be untrue, your whole article may be publicly criticized). When in doubt about your authority to speak on a topic in an informed way, follow the "80-20 rule" employed by The New York Times: make 80% of your article information and only 20% opinion.
Tips for Writing Opinions
- PICK A SIDE: This seems obvious, but lots of opinion articles forget that they are passionate, argumentative pieces and turn partway through into news articles introducing both sides of an issue. Opinion articles should start with a clear thesis in their lede, and they need to argue that side exclusively. Is this biased? Absolutely. But that's the point of an opinion piece: to offer a personal argument for or against something clearly and unequivocally.
- CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE: The opinion writer doesn't just want their piece read by people who already share their opinion--they want the average reader of the paper to find their piece to and hopefully have their mind changed by it. This means a good opinion piece should have broad appeal, with approachable diction that a normal person can understand. Make arguments around why the average person should care about the topic, and focus on the utility of your argument, or what they can practically use from your writing and apply to their lives.
- THE KEY TO A GOOD OPINION PIECE IS PATHOS: Opinions should be fueled by passion, and your language and tone should reflect how you feel about a topic. Appeal to a reader's emotion by using emotionally-charged verbs and evocative imagery to get them to relate to the anger, sadness, fear, shock, or joy you feel when addressing the topic. A word of caution however: you may turn people off from your article if your tone is too intense (think aggressive anger, aggressive grief, or aggressive positivity). But in a paper full of neutral, dispassionate reporting, readers turn to the opinions for that dopamine hit of pathos, so make sure to give them what they want. You'll lose a reader quicker to boredom then you will by angering them.
- THE ANECDOTE IS YOUR FRIEND: Everyone likes a good story. A great anecdote is excellent way to both start (and end) and opinion article, as they both engage the reader's emotions but also can give a real-world practical example of the struggles of a stakeholder facing an issue. A good story can also give you authority you may lack by showing actual people dealing with actual issues.
- ACKNOWLEDGE THE COUNTERARGUMENT: There will be people who don't agree with your opinion, of course, but you should still try to convince them that you are right. The way to do this is to acknowledge their opinion and express why it's incorrect. Now, this doesn't mean you should go into depth about the other side and explain it--that would be the realm of the news article, and you shouldn't drift away from picking a side. Still, you need to be proleptic and anticipate the other side's strongest argument against yours--address it and then prove it wrong through a strong counterargument.
- GET FIGURATIVE: A great way to pull readers into your argument and distinguish your opinion article from the rest of the news is to use lots of non-literal and figurative language. Analogies and metaphors are great in opinion articles, as they help readers gauge the severity of an issue through comparison. Irony is also frequently used in opinion articles as the contrast between what is expected and what is reality is disruptive for the reader and draws them in to know more. Finally, more than any other article, opinions can use solecism (or intentionally breaking some rules of good grammar for literary effect) as these reveal the implicit bias in your article and make the reader accept the piece as less of a news item and more of a part of conversation. Speaking of which...
- REMEMBER, YOU SHOULD BE STARTING A DISCUSSION: You want to talk about a topic that's important and that people should be talking about, not just a niche topic or a topic that has been generally settled or ignored. Worse, you want to make sure that your take on the topic is unique--look at recent coverage of the topic (especially in your own paper) and make sure that you are not retreading anything that's come before. Remember, it's a newspaper, not an oldspaper.