EDITORIAL WRITING

(Basic)
Editorial Writing Defined

It is like a persuasive essay

It is an opinionated news story
It is a comprehensive
presentation of a certain
viewpoint.
Editorial Writing Defined

The main goal of

EDITORIAL writers is to
convince his/her reader
to believe on his/her
stand or opinion
Qualities of an Effective
Editorial Article
 Timely
 Public is more interested with present
issues around them
 Focused
 Editorial should have one central idea,
NOT SEVERAL IDEAS
 Focus only on the most important issue
since all ideas will be useless if these will
not be properly absorbed by the readers
* Editorial Focus
Qualities of an Effective
Editorial Article
 Objective and Solidly Argued
 Editorials should provide solid evidence on
one side, i.e. the writer’s stand or opinion
of the issue, for a reader to believe on its
stand.
 Stand on an editorial issue should be
clearly and intelligently analyzed. Present
facts not hearsays
Qualities of an Effective
Editorial Article
 Not preachy
 Editorials are authoritative yet, they should
not preach.
 Rather, this should allow readers to
evaluate their stand on the issue
 Short and concise
 Ideally, editorial is composed of 4 to 7
paragraphs only; each paragraph is
composed of 4 sentences only
Qualities of an Effective
Editorial
 Written in formal language
 Use the third person POV (“we” can be
accepted though)
 Do not use “I”
 Editorials should be professionally written
(Do not use slang or other informal
languages)
How to write an editorial
Backgrounder / Lead Sentence

Argument 1
Sub argument

Argument 2
Sub argument

Argument 3
Sub argument

Conclusion
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
 This is usually the first or first two
paragraphs of the article
 This should “hook” the readers
 This should contain your news peg
 This should contain the stand or the
opinion on the issue
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
 NEWS PEG
 This is a SHORT discussion of what the
issue is.
 A news where the issue is based
 Background information of the issue
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
How to construct lead
sentences:
 Question
e.g. Should Chief Justice Ma.
Lourdes Sereno be removed
from her office?
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
 Simple narrative of the issue
e.g. Rounds of oil price hike have
increased the price of basic
commodities. As usual, ordinary
Filipinos have to “tighten their belts”
this coming days.
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
 Statement of a certain event that
led to the making of the editorial
e.g. A fourteen-year old student was
shot dead by his classmate in a gang
war inside the campus. Security
officers found out that the suspect has
been carrying firearms. This incident
compelled school administrators to re-
examine the school’s security policies.
Backgrounder / Lead
Sentence
 Quotation
e.g. “The Filipino is worth dying
for…” thus said Ninoy Aquino
Developing Arguments

 Lead sentence should be sustained by

good paragraphs and arguments
 Present the reasons/arguments clearly
and objectively
 Bases of the arguments should be
factual and logical.
 Research will be beneficial for one to
have a full-blown argument.
Ending an Editorial Article

 Develop a PUNCH for it to have a

LASTING IMPRESSION
 Readers MUST wholeheartedly believe
on your stand upon reaching this
portion of the article
How to end an editorial article

 Conclusion or Summary
State the stand and summarize
your arguments
 Suggestion / Recommendation
Since you are a debunking a point,
propose what you, as a critique,
want
How to end an editorial article

 Challenge
Dare your readers
 Forecast
 Predict what may happen