COLUMN WRITING

Prof. Mykel Andrada, PhD

University of the Philippines, Diliman

PinoyMedia Center, Inc.
www.squeeze.ph
 WHY THE TERM “COLUMN?”?

 COLUMNA
– Latin; pillar

 VERTICAL
DIVISION
OF THE PAGE
- since mid-1400s
 COLUMN
 Article giving opinions or perspectives

 500 to 850 words

 Editorial – opinion / stand of the

newspaper or school publication, or of
the editors of the paper

 Column – opinion of the columnist, not

necessarily shared by the news
 ALSO KNOWN AS OP-ED

 Originally: OPPOSITE THE EDITORIAL

 NOW: Opinion – Editorial

 SAMPLE STRUCTURE
 Headline (Title) - Try to use some
alliteration
 By-line – your name
 Lead (hook) – A shocking stat or a
rhetorical question works well.
- Creatively introduce
your topic
 SAMPLE STRUCTURE
 Present your 2-5 supporting
FACTS: (each fact is its own
paragraph)
This involves:
1. POINT – state the fact;
2. PROOF – paraphrase or quote an
external source;
3. ANALYSIS – comment on the
proof presented.
 SAMPLE STRUCTURE
 Write about YOUR OPINION on the facts
you have included (start with a strong
stance). Comment on each fact.
 Transition in to a personal experience
(optional).
 Conclude by creatively restating your
main point
 Finish with a statement linking to your
lead ( a CALL to ACTION works well). (50)
Headline / By-line / Lead (50
words)

2-5 FACTS (250)

Opinion +
Personal
Experience
(250)
Closing + Call-to-
Action
(50)
 VARIETY OF COLUMN PIECES
 1. National or Regional Issues
 2. Local / School Concerns
 3. Global Issues
 4. Human Interests

 ENSURE THAT ISSUES ARE

GROUNDED AND CONNECTED TO
NATIONAL / LOCAL EXPERIENCE
 EXPERIENTIAL
 Personal is Political
 Personal insights should be tested
against facts
 No such thing as “This is MY
OPINION”
 Even opinions should be based on
facts, not merely emotions
 Column writing promotes diversity
 DISCOURSE
 The ability or power to connect
seemingly unrelated matters
 Example:
 1. Duterte and Hitler
 2. Martial Law and No Hair Color
Policy
 3. Heavy Traffic and Ants
 TURN INSIGHT INTO EXPRESSION
 Empower students to find their voice
 Teach them to learn, not to stock
knowledge
 Teach them to express what they
have learned
 Encourage them to re-think their
learnings
 Ethics of Column Writing
 You cannot succeed as a columnist
unless you combine your craft skills
with strong critical thinking and
sound ethical decision-making.
 The more competent you are in
ethical decision-making, the more
confident you will become in your
ability to meet the tests you face.
 Accuracy and Fairness
 Accuracy means
“getting it right”
 Fairness means
pursuing the truth
with both vigor and
compassion and
reporting
information without
favoritism, self-
interest or
prejudice
 Accuracy and Fairness
 “The method is
objective, not the
journalist. The key
is the discipline of
the craft, not the
aim.”
~Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel,
The Elements of Journalism
 On bias
 Commercial bias
 Temporal bias
 Visual bias
 Bad news bias
 Narrative bias
 Status Quo bias
 Fairness bias
 Expediency bias
 Glory bias
 Conflict of interest
 When individuals
face competing
loyalties to a
source or to their
own self-interest, or
to their
organization's
economic needs as
opposed to the
information needs
of the public
 Deception
 Can take many
forms, from
outright lying, to
misleading,
misrepresenting or Fabricating stories: Stephen Glass of the

merely being less New Republic

than forthright

Use of hidden
camera
 Diversity
 About the makeup
of news
organizations, who
is making decisions
 About the way story
ideas are developed
 About inclusiveness
in choosing sources
and about giving
voice to the
voiceless
 Plagiarism
 “Great journalists
credit others”

~Aly Colon, Poynter Institute

 How to avoid plagiarism
 Does this wording sound familiar?
 Do I know where it came from?
 Have I arranged my notes so attributed
material remains separate from my own
material?
 Can I document the source of my
information, description, or observation?
 Am I giving credit, or some indication, as to
where this material came from when
appropriate?
 Have I double-checked the source of work?
 Privacy
 Need for free information flow vs.
rights of individuals to personal
privacy
 Harm from invasion of privacy is
almost certain, but it is more difficult
for a journalist to fully identify
benefits from an intrusion
 Privacy
CRIME PUBLIC OFFICIALS

House in U.S,
Rep. Mikey Arroyo

Erlinda Ligot, wife of

ex-AFP comptroller
 Guiding principles
for ethical decision-making
 Ethical decisions are based on
something more than common sense.
They are based on principles that
are rooted in both our professional
duty and the potential consequences
of our actions.
 Guiding principles
for ethical decision-making
 Seek the truth and report it as fully
as possible
 Act independently
 Minimize harm
 Be accountable

Doing Ethics in Journalism, Society of Professional Journalists

 Seek the truth and report it as
fully as possible
 Journalists should
be honest, fair and
courageous in
gathering,
reporting and
interpreting
information.
 Seek the truth and report it as
fully as possible
 Test the accuracy of information from all
sources and exercise care to avoid
inadvertent error.
 Diligently seek out subjects of news stories
to give them the opportunity to respond to
allegations of wrongdoing.
 Identify sources whenever feasible. The
public is entitled to as much information as
possible on sources' reliability.
 Always question sources' motives before
promising anonymity.
 Seek the truth and report it as
fully as possible
 Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the
public's business is conducted in the open and
that government records are open to inspection.
 Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of
the human experience.
 Examine their own cultural values and avoid
imposing those values on others.
 Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age,
religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual
orientation, disability, physical appearance or
social status.
 Support the open exchange of views, even views
they find repugnant.
Seek the truth and report it as
fully as possible
 Give voice to the voiceless; officia

unofficial sources of information ca

equally valid.
 Never plagiarize.
 Make certain that headlines, news
promotional material, photos, vide
graphics, sound bites and quotatio
misrepresent. They should not ove
highlight incidents out of context.
 Never distort the content of news
video. Montages and photo illustra
should be labeled.
 Seek the truth and report it as
fully as possible
 Avoid undercover or other surreptitious
methods of gathering information except
when traditional open methods will not yield
information vital to the public. Use of such
methods should be explained as part of the
story.
 Distinguish between advocacy and news
reporting. Analysis and commentary should be
labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
 Distinguish news from advertising, and shun
hybrids that blur the lines between the two.
 Act Independently
 Journalists should
help audiences
create accurate
and useful pictures
of reality.
 Pressure and
ignorance tend to
limit journalistic
independence.
 Act Independently
 Avoid conflicts of interests, real or perceived.
 Remain free of associations and activities that
may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
 Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special
treatment
 Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
 Be vigilant and courageous about holding those
with power accountable.
 Deny favored treatment to advertisers and
special interests, and resist their pressure to
influence news coverage.
 Act Independently
 Independence is not the
same as neutrality.
Editorialists and opinion
journalists are not
neutral—their credibility
is rooted in the
dedication to accuracy,
verification, and the
larger public interest
 The question is not
neutrality, but purpose
 “Engaged Independence”
 Public Journalism
 Act Independently
 “No rigid prohibition against any kind of personal
or intellectual engagement will serve to guarantee
a journalist remains independent. In the end it is
good judgment, and an abiding commitment to
the principle of first allegiance to citizens, that
separates the journalist. Having an opinion is not
only allowable, not only natural, but it is valuable
to the natural skepticism by which any good
reporter approaches a story. But a journalist must
be smart enough to recognize that opinion must
be based on something more substantial than
personal beliefs, if it is to Kovach
~Bill be of and
journalistic value.”
Tom Rosenstiel,
The Elements of Journalism
 Minimize harm
 Our challenge as ethical
journalists is to gauge the
significance and
importance of the truth we
are pursuing, and to
anticipate, estimate and
understand levels of harm
Hostage-taking at Quirino Grandstand
we may cause through our
actions
 We must be adept at
developing,and
implementing alternative
courses of action that Family of
honor both the truthtelling executed
and the minimizing harm OFW drug
mules
principles
 Minimize harm
 Show compassion for those who may be affected
adversely by news coverage. Use special
sensitivity when dealing with children and
inexperienced sources or subjects.
 Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or
photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.
 Recognize that gathering and reporting
information may cause harm or discomfort.
Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.
 Recognize that private people have a greater
right to control information about themselves
than do public officials and others who seek
power, influence or attention.
 Minimize harm
 Show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid
curiosity.
 Be cautious about identifying juvenile
suspects or victims of sex crimes.
 Be judicious about naming criminal suspects
before the formal filing of charges. Balance
a criminal suspect's right to a fair trial with
the public's right to be informed.
 Be accountable
 Journalists are
accountable to
their readers,
listeners, viewers
and one another.
 Be accountable
 Clarify and explain news coverage, and
invite dialogue with the public over
journalistic conduct.
 Encourage the public to voice grievances
against the news media.
 Admit mistakes and correct them
promptly.
 Expose unethical practices of journalists
and the news media. Abide by the same
high standards to which they hold others.
 Civic/public journalism
 “The job of the newspaper is
to comfort the afflicted and
afflict the comfortable.”
~Finley Peter Dunne
 “The creation of a professional
class of journalists may have
produced an alienation
between journalism and the
public.” ~Roy Peter Clark
 “Reporting the issues on the
peoples’ agenda, even though
they may not necessarily be
on the journalists’ agenda”
~Ed Fouhy
 Civic/public journalism is
merely excellent journalism
 Is she merely a conscientious citizen, or is there something in
the role of the journalist that distinguishes her from other
citizens? Is the newspaper merely a recorder and reporter of
events or is it a catalyst to change?

UNIQUE ROLE PUBLIC ROLE

 Responsibility to gather  Building new models to
information and present help citizens find ways to
it to the public have power
 Tell the community about  Newspaper as an
significant issues so advocate, activist,
people can make agenda setter and
important decisions in community convenor.
their lives
 Potter Box of ethical decision-
making
 Define the relevant  1. Definition
details of the situation  2. Values
 Identify the values or  3. Principles
value systems which
ought to be considered
 4. Loyalties
 Select the principles as
well as provide the
justifications for the
selection
 Choose loyalties or the
interests which the
principle pursues
 Ethical dilemma 1
 You are embedded with military
troops conducting highly secretive
operations vs. insurgents. You receive
information that some civilians want
to tell you about military atrocities, in
an interview to be conducted at a site
away from the troops. But you were
not allowed by the military
commander to leave the troops.
What will you do?
 Ethical dilemma 2
 You have graphic photographs of
victims of a recent “terrorist
bombing.” Your news outfit is the
only one who was able to take such
photographs. Will you publish these
photos, which includes bloody,
severed limbs? The families of the
victims are at the moment too
distraught/cannot be reached.
 Ethical dilemma 1
 The editorial board of your school
publication agreed that you will
publish a public announcement
calling for students’ participation in
an upcoming huge rally against
budget cuts. Your advisor told you not
to publish it, stressing that you
should merely report events. Will you
still publish the announcement?
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