DEFINITION OF EDITORIAL WRITING.

BY KELLY O. UDEBHULU.

INTRODUCTION:

Journalism is the act of passing information to a person, group, institution both cultural, traditional, political, social and economic institutions and parastatals. It is aimed at informing, educating and entertaining the audience or persons. As mass media can preserve cultural heritage, reshape Governmental policies and regulations, so it`s as well serve as the mouth piece of any Government. institutions and corporations. To achieving these functions above, these approaches  like factual news, editorial writing , reporting, features writing, news analysis and news commentaries among others are used by journalists and mass communicators.

This course will deal on definition of editorial writing, features, history and nature towards achieving the targeted aim.

DEFINITION OF EDITORIAL WRITING:

Editorial writing is the mouth piece as well as the speaking department of any newspaper or publishing institution that reveals the opinion, evaluation and contribution of such newspaper on issues published concerning the masses, corporations and government. According to Saurabh Deshpande (2103), Editorial Writing is usually a brief article written by an editor that expresses a newspaper or publishing house's own views and policies on any current issue. The editor of any newspaper or printing media do presents the position of the newspaper before the readers.  In a simple terms, the editorial writing of any news media is the visible ideology  of that newspaper. It portrays the feelings, opinion, view, correction and suggestion of any mass media ( newspaper) towards any current issue, policy, events and protest at any particular time or place.

Experts in journalism refer to this part of journalism as the explanatary text, opinion of the newspaper on any issue. In the definition of Duyile (2005), he sees editorial writing as a comment or an argument in support of a particular policy, an action, or an idea whether expressed or latent. It can be an argument exhibiting the logical reasoning of the newspaper using the thoughts of the proprietor for the purpose of persuading the readers (audience) to kick against an idea, policy or an action based on facts available.

Hoffman, M (2007:113) defines editorial as a “statement of opinion from an editor or publisher about you and your business. Media coverage generated by news staff”; while Okoro, N and B Agbo (2003:125) considered editorial as “a critical evaluation, interpretation and presentation of significant, contemporary events in such a way as to inform, educate, entertain and influence the reader.”
From the definitions above, we can understand the major role of an editor. The editor occupies a vital position that is sensitive to the current issue that requires deliberation, correction and support by the newspaper or print media. To strenghten this, Iyorkyaa (1996:14) defined an editorial as “a journalistic essay which attempts to:

a. inform or explain;
b. persuade or convince;
c. stimulate insight in an entertaining or humorous manner.”

To explain in simplified manner,  Ate (2006) describe editorial writing of any newspaper as the voice, reputation, ideology, public assesment channel to the audience (readers) and mouth piece of the newspaper.

 It is of note that mass media has made editorial writing a celebrated concept for serious-minded newspapers just as news commentary is to broadcast media.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1 :

i) What is editorial writing?

HISTORY OF THE EDITORIAL.

At the initial era of journalism especially in print media, editor`s writing or essay was recognized as a vital message from the print media but not as it is positioned now. The origin of editorial can be traced as far back as 1830. From the  words of Yaasa (1996:9), It was the time when any writing by an editor was designated as editorial. It was used then to refer to any article writing by an editor. But, in the 20th century, the editorial usage was enlarged and broaden as the newspaper industry enlarge and spread systematically. This was so, because around this period, Newspaper across the world had designated a separate editorial page for editorials and letters to the editor. Also around this period, some newspapers started placing editorial in a left hand page, usually in front of the section.

In modern time, editorial writing has be glorified and enlarged to occupy a wider dimension to the extent that it opens for columnists, guest writers, commentators and analysts to present and publish their opinions, essays, findings and reports to the audience ( readers). This trademark is known as op-ed, meaning opposite the editorial page. It is published on special page or colon, at times, direct opposite to the editorial page of the newspaper.  In certain countries (Italy, France), editorials are published on the front page.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2 :

 Briefly trace the history of editorial and its trendy changes from individual to corporate expression?

Features of an Editorial :

It is of  note that editorial writing do emerges from a deliberated issue or topical issue raised. It does not come out from a topic not made pressing issue in the mass media. In the words of Ate (2006), an editorial topic or subject cannot emerge from the blues. It must be a topical issue that has been reported in the mass media (print and electronic) either by way of hard news or features. Such an issue must attract public attention and debate.

Ukonu (2005) described editorial as the melting pot for all kinds of journalistic writings. According to him, investigative, interpretative and hard news reporting are incorporated into editorials. Objectivity, precision, specialism and advocacy are also styles adopted in treating editorial topics.

From the above definitions, it is cleared that editorial writing comprises of news, story and feature elements that have dominated the mass media at a particular given time and space. It delves into history, science, politics, economics, religion and philosophy. Ate (2006) further revealed that thought-provoking letters to the editor are often used to gauge public opinion. When critically exploited, letters to the editor could serve as useful raw materials in writing an editorial. This is because letters to the editor can give some useful insights into emerging controversial and topical issues of public significance. it can be argued that its components are drawn from the components of other journalistic write-ups.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3:

 In a brief statement, describe the features of an editorial writing?

NATURE OF THE EDITORIAL:

Editorial writing belongs to print media(newspaper) as commentary belongs to broadcasting. Essays, articles, columns and reports can be attributed to individuals but editorial writing is attributed to the print institution or proprietor and not to the writer (editor). Thus, editorial writing carries such words like "we" not "I" because it bears institutional posture, hence Ukonu (2005) said that editorial writing belongs to the print media genre. While other opinion pieces like articles, columns and essays are credited to individuals or joint writers, the editorial belongs to newspaper as an institution – a social institution. That is why in writing an editorial, terms like “we” or the name of the newspaper is often mentioned rather than “I” or the name of the writer.  It is an organizational affair and therefore all the credits or blames accruing from it must go to the institution or organization and not an individual.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD EDITORIAL .

i) Must carry an institutional flavour. The media establishment should be heard “speaking” in an editorial and not an individual business.

ii) Language must be plain, unambiguous & easy to understand by the target readership . The purpose of an editorial is to influence the audience, educate or entertain them, the language must be understood by the target audience. If not, the mission of an editorial will not be accomplished.

 iii) There is no room for verbosity and circumlocution. In writing an editorial, the editor should always be exact. Say what you want to say without beating about the bush.

iv) Words & phrases must be exact & precise.

v) Persuasive techniques must be used.  An editorial or leader must be catchy and attention arresting. Dull and weak editorials cannot create the desired effects on its target audience. Persuasive techniques and other appeals can be used for this purpose.

vi) Must be well-researched.  Every editorial must be original in tone and substance. A newspaper house should not go and dub another paper’s editorial in the name of being trendy.

vii) Must be based on facts and not speculations. An editorial writer who knows his/her onions must endeavour to cross check his/her facts so as to ensure high credibility of the editorial.

viii) An editorial must be rich in human interest. This is because people are interested in the affairs of their fellow human beings.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4 :

i) Describe the nature and qualities of an editorial writing?

CONCLUSION :

We have under simplified approaches, talked about  the defintion of editorial writing, the nature, features and  the qualities of a good editorial as this will help  internalize the skills of editorial writing from diverse perspectives and established the fact that an editorial writing is a product  of other journalistic elements that have been on the news. It is important that we recognize the uniqueness of  editorial writing as it carries institutional flavor as against essays, articles and columns that bear individual status or the writers aromas.

SUMMARY:

In this work, we tackled the meaning and history of editorial. We also delved into the features and nature of the subject matter, as well as study the key qualities that one needs to look out for in a piece of editorial writing.

Assessment Questions:

a. Define the term editorial.

 b. Discuss the features of an editorial and relate your discussion to the nature of editorial.

 c. What are the main qualities you need to look out for in an editorial?

REFERENCES:

1) Duyile, D (2005). Writing For the Media – A Manual for African Journalists. Lagos: Gong Communication. 
2)Ukonu, M (2005). Fundamentals of Editorial Writing. Nsukka: Multi Educational and Services Trust. 
3) Okoro, N. and B. Agbo (2003). Writing For the Media Society. Nsukka: Prize Publishers. 
 4) Hoffman, M. (2007). Academic’s Dictionary of Mass Communication. New Delhi: Academic. 
 5) Yaasa, A. (1996). “History of Editorial.” Unpublished work.