The Value of Opinion Journalism

Lesson 5:7

After wading through examples from cable TV news, you may be wondering what the value of opinions are within the context of journalism.

We teach that Opinion journalism is valuable in that once you have studied a subject using reliable information, you often have to make a judgment or decide what action to take. Someone who is working on the same questions, and publishing their conclusions, can help you make up your mind, particularly if they are trustworthy, which means they verify their information, they aren’t on the payroll of one side or the other, and they are accountable for what they say.

An evidence-based opinion in that case is helpful.

So, going back to our 4 discussion questions for this lesson,

How do you tell the difference between News Reporting and Opinion Journalism?
Why should you care which is which?
What is the value of Opinion Journalism?
How do you tell the difference between Opinion Journalism and mere assertion?

Let's tackle the first one:

How do we tell the difference between News Reporting and Opinion Journalism?

If we can’t depend on all broadcasters and publishers to carefully quarantine news and opinion, HOW DO WE TELL THE DIFFERENCE? Your ears are your most important sense in this neighborhood. In the same way that accents can define where a person is from, you can hear the difference when you're moving through the News neighborhood into the subdivision of opinion journalism.

Let's practice.

Here's a CNN report from 2013 on the U.S. relations with Iran, which began to improve with the election of, at the time, a new president, Hassan Rouhani.

CNN-Iran-Report.mp4

That is a straight news report.

Now, here's the first 2 minutes of Fareed Zakaria's commentary on the entree to Iran.

Zakaria-Iran-Opinon.mov

If you pay attention to the language used in each of the pieces, you’ll note characteristics in the Opinion Journalism neighborhood.

It’s like the difference between a Boston accent and a New York accent.

Once you know the accent, you can tell where a person is coming from.

Identifying Opinion Journalism through Language

A few common labels of Opinion Journalism include:

Editorial
Reporter’s Notebook
Op-Ed Contribution
Column
Review
News Analysis
Take

Evidence-based, factually accurate Opinion Journalism that is NOT clearly labeled makes it very confusing for a news consumer. Because there may be statistics and quotes from experts and the kind of verification that makes a news story reliable, it can seem like News Reporting. But if the writer or commentator quickly pivots and spouts off an opinion, or leaves out a fact or two in order to emphasize one facet of the argument, what is the reader or watcher to think?

News outlets that are committed to informing news consumers should be scrupulous about labeling.

Remember the Code of Ethics referenced earlier in this lesson.

ALSO look out for examples of...

First person statements ("I believe... I think...."
Tone of sarcasm and irony
Exaggeration / Superlatives
Parody of an issue or person

So now that you know this, let's tackle the other questions...

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Next: Why Should You Care?

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