Opinion topics

La Voz’s target audience is the De Anza community, which is mostly students in the age range of 18-24.  The best opinion topics are news items that affect De Anza students directly or indirectly and current events that De Anza students are talking about.

Good opinion writing is still reporting. An opinion presents facts, but gives more analysis and more of the writer’s opinions. Each opinion should have an ample amount of research, much like an investigative piece a reporter would write. 

Research your topic

If you're writing a column on student government, you should be at student government meetings, listening to what is taking place and asking people questions after the meeting. Read the mission statement and minutes of past meetings. Talk to members of the student government about your opinions. Feedback is a good thing, no matter if it is positive or negative.

• • Make a strong case. One of the main goals for an opinion writer is to persuade public opinion. The more research done, the more credible the writer’s column is.

  • Understand the topic, thus making it easier for the reader to read. Include references to outside sources of information that strengthen your case.

  • See the other side of the argument. Attack the strongest part of the opposition’s argument. Do research just as a news reporter would. 

How to attribute

Attribution in journalism is informal, but crucial. Examples:

• ... according to an article in Huffington Post. (LINK IT!)

• .... wrote in a Twitter post. (LINK IT!)

• "Quoted sentence," Trump told Fox News. (LINK IT!)

Opinion formats

The form of an opinion is a series of connected boxes. The most important part of the opinion is the statement of opinion. It needs to come early in the opinion so the reader doesn’t have to make it to the end to know the paper’s stance.

An opinion should be divided into four parts:

• 1. Introduction/your opinion  — Give basic information and your opinion within 1-2 paragraphs.

  2. Background -- Don’t assume readers are already familiar with the argument. 

  3. Details — Explain different views using quotations, paraphrases and attribution. Do not make  "straw man" arguments in which you misstate or invent opposition arguments.

  4. Conclusion — Provide alternatives, solutions or next steps based on your opinion.

The opinion should read like a conversation. In other words, when the column is read aloud, it should sound and feel perfectly normal, just as if the writer were talking to someone. A columnist should be writing for the ear, not the eye. Humor is good much of the time. It grabs the reader and feels more natural to the ear than chunks of information crammed together.

Edit yourself

What to look for when editing an opinion:

• • Make sure both sides of an argument are heard and that the argument is clearly supported with facts and even quotes from “experts.”

  • Make sure it sounds natural to the ear. Read it aloud as if you were telling your thoughts to someone. If it sounds natural, it will read naturally.

  • Make sure you have not insulted anyone or anything for just insult’s sake. Criticism must have a purpose.

List your sources

At the bottom of the story you turn in, include links to your sources so that editors can easily check facts and interpretations.