Writing Opinion for Impact

By Conrad C. Fink

Book Overview

Good editorial writing has the potential to start a war - or avoid one. Is it any wonder event the most experienced journalists find opinion writing important and fascinating? In this fully updated and revised second edition of Writing Opinion for Impact , author Conrad Fink provides the guidance for translating the basics into opinion writing that is reasoned, forceful, responsible, engaging and readable. New to this edition is a stand-alone chapter on Commentary for Cyberspace and Broadcast, with an expanded discussion of writing for online publications, including a discussion of Slate , other Internet services, and blogs. Also new to this edition is the inclusion of full-length editorials complete with the author's commentaries that elaborate on teaching points from the chapters. These editorial reprints and author commentaries include: editorials from leading newspaper and magazine publications; a political commentary column; a humor column; a sports column; a film review; and columns on business and lifestyle. New or expanded coverage also includes: discussion of plagiarism and outright lying that struck column-writing in recent years; staying fair and balanced in reporting; computer assisted reporting, including Web sites; career progression for columnists; the trend toward campus newspaper columns containing frank sex advice. Aspiring editorial writers and columnists - whether students or journalists in transition - will find the second edition of Writing Opinion for Impact an invaluable guide to the responsibilities, techniques, and art of opinion writing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813807514
• ISBN13: 9780813807515
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.1" x 10.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent in almost every respect

I've read this book for a college course, and overall it is excellent.The only strange thing about this book is that it is written in a completely different style than one of Conrad Fink's earlier books, "Strategic Newspaper Management." This one, "Writing Opinion for Impact," is quite informal, even chatty, as compared with the formal, almost traditional, style of his newspaper management book. They are so dramatically different, it's as if they weren't even written by the same person.

Useful how-to-do-it.

Although intended as a college journalism textbook for aspiring editorial and opinion writers, "Writing Opinion for Impact" has great potential utility for anyone concerned with communication through the written word. The author begins with a thoughtful discussion of the power and responsibilities of the opinion writer, examines in detail the nuts and bolts of persuasive writing (with pertinent comments and examples from other writers as varied as Dave Barry and Mortimer Zuckerman), and devotes attention to such specialized areas as humorous writing, arts reviews, and sports. Ethical issues and common pitfalls are prominently featured throughout. For those pursuing the subject methodically, each chapter concludes with a handy summary, recommendations for further reading, and practical exercises. Whether you are a budding mover of public opinion, a letter-to-the-editor devotee seeking greater powers of persuasion, or just a reader who wants to know how it all works, Professor Fink's work is highly recommended, not only for its content, but also as a model of lucid writing in itself. (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)