Column Writing
JOEMAR L. FURIGAY
Las Pinas City National Science High School
A column is…
• a recurring piece or article in a newspaper,
magazine or other publications
• where a writer expresses his own opinion in
few columns allotted to him/her by the
newspaper organization
• written by a columnist
A column …
• is not a news article, but it is news.
• generally answers why and how.
• is often personal, using the first and second person
(I and you).
• often states an opinion about a recent event.
A column …
• also known as OP-ED (opposite the editorial)
• now known as Opinion-Editorial
• has a standard head, called a title, and a by-line
(name) at the top. These identify you and your
column for the reader.
Column vs. Editorial
• An editorial is the opinion/stand of the
newspaper or of the editors of the paper.
• A column is an opinion of the columnist, not
necessarily shared by the board.
Before writing a column…
KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
• Why are you writing?
--Is it to inform the community about an event?
• Does the paper's editor, the community or co-
workers want it?
--Are you entertaining, informing or educating?
--Do you seek an identity or exposure?
Before writing a column…
DECIDE ON YOUR AUDIENCE
• Whom are you trying to reach? Whom are
you reaching?
• Write in their language, at their level, about
things the audience need to know or want
to know.
Before writing a column…
THINK ABOUT YOUR CONTENT
• What will your column discuss?
• How will you discuss it?
Answering why and how will help determine
what.
Remember, columns should be based on facts and
should be accurate.
Before writing a column…
KNOW THE STRUCTURE
• How will your message get to your audience?
• Personal columns often have departments. These
departments help you to write your column.
• Departments can be: "coming events," applications,
notes or some of the categories suggested for the non-
personal columns
Before writing a column…
KNOW THE STRUCTURE
• How will your message get to your audience?
• Personal columns often have departments. These
departments help you to write your column.
• Departments can be: "coming events," applications,
notes or some of the categories suggested for the non-
personal columns
The structure of a column
Headline / By-line / Lead
2-5 FACTS
Opinion + Personal
Experience
Closing +
Call-to- Action
The structure of a column
• Headline (Title)- Try to use some alliteration
• By-line – your name
• Lead (hook) – Use shocking stat or a rhetorical
question works well. Creatively introduce
your topic. Clearly present your main point
The structure of a column
• Present your 2-5 supporting FACTS. Each fact is its
own paragraph.
• This involves:
-POINT – state the fact;
-PROOF – paraphrase or quote an external source;
-ANALYSIS – comment on the proof presented.
The structure of a column
• Write about YOUR OPINION on the facts
you have included (Start with a strong
stance). Comment on each fact.
• Transition into a personal experience
(optional).
The structure of a column
• Conclude by creatively restating your
main point .
• Finish with a statement linking to your
lead ( a CALL to ACTION works well).
Other tips in writing a column
• Give the reader timely and helpful
information.
• Use simple and short sentences and
paragraphs.
Other tips in writing a column
• In personal columns, use local names and
places.
• Let others speak for you by use of quotes
and references.
Other tips in writing a column
DO’NT…
-Use technical or complex words, jargon, unfamiliar
words
-Include too much detail or material. You should be
stimulating interest, not exhausting a subject
-Refer to yourself as a third person (this author, your
reporter) or quote yourself (Joseph Gannaban said).
Instead use mine.
Other tips in writing a column
• Write the way you talk. But don't discard good English usage
and grammar by being friendly and informal.
• Try to uncover a "lead" or opening that will catch the interest
of your readers.
• Write about people. Keep heavy subject matter to a
minimum. When using subject matter, try to tell the story
through the experiences of local people.
Other tips in writing a column
• Don't weigh your column down with too much detail. Try to
stimulate interest in a subject, but don't exhaust the subject.
• Be timely. Keep up with the effect of weather conditions,
seasons, etc., pointing out the significance of these
conditions locally.
• Remember the people you're talking to and give them
information that will benefit them in a way they can
understand.
Other tips in writing a column
• The lead sentence clues the reader to the column's tone. The
rest should continue to develop this tone.
• The entire name is given the first time. After that, it is only a
first-name basis. Sentences are short and so are paragraphs.
Credit is given when the columnist is quoting another source.
• One topic is been given primary emphasis. Shorter topics
follow this lead topic. That means a column can be shortened
by cutting paragraphs from the bottom up, just like a news
story.
Sample Column
While in college, I had the opportunity to have as my political
science teacher a maternal first cousin of then dictator Ferdinand
Marcos. That was sometime in 1974. I was a returning student
during those days. She was my teacher in Philippine Constitution.
Sample Column
I already finished the subject on Philippine Constitution shortly
before the 1972 declaration of martial law. But I had to retake it
because the first political science subject was about the 1935
Constitution, the charter that had to be replaced to erase the
vestige of American colonial rule. The second political science
subject was about the 1973 Constitution, which Marcos used for his
one man rule.
Sample Column
My teacher, slim built and lanky but was already in her 50s during
those days, tried everything to justify the martial necessity. She
tried to convince the entire class that what her cousin did was for
the good of the country. I remember her parroting the Kit Tatad's
propaganda line (Kit Tatad was Marcos propaganda chief until he
was replaced by Gorio Cendana) that what we had during those
days was but a "smiling martial law regime."
Sample Column
She finally lowered the boom to claim that Marcos was not that
bad. That although we had one-man rule, or a dictatorship, it was
to our eternal luck that the country had a "benevolent dictator" in
Marcos. I knew and felt it was an oxymoron, a phrase composed of
two words that have opposite meanings. As the word implies, an
oxymoron is like putting the life-sustaining oxygen into the mindless
mind of a moron.
Sample Column
I kept my cool and did not respond to her prescriptions. During
those days, it was most unwise to be vocal. The campus teemed
with intelligence agents, who reported students with critical views
on the government and military. The military during those days
could be likened to Hitler's Gestapo or SS. But I indeed remember
her words.
Sample Column
All through the years, her use of that phrase has kept on
reverberating in my mind. Until these days, when certain parties
have tried to revive this phrase and use it to apply the current
administration of the sick old man of the South. The concept of
benevolent dictatorship has somewhat resonated into my young
mind.
Sample Column
Benevolent dictatorship is a contradiction in terms. There is no such
thing. It's an absolute bullshit, to say the least. It is nothing but a
an empty phrase to assuage the feelings of a people, who have
been dispossessed of their power as the sovereign people.
Dictatorship is the accumulation of political power in a single man,
or a single clique.
Sample Column
It is taking the power of the sovereign people. It also connotes its
use against the very people a political leader or clique is supposed
to serve. There is nothing benevolent in imposing a dictatorship. A
dictatorship is not premised on benevolence or good will. It's always
premised on ill will or a strong desire to exploit the people. Hence,
any person or group that espouses this concept of benevolent
dictatorship hardly knows what he or they are talking about.
Sample Column
They say it to make it palatable the attempts to exploit the Filipino
people. It is part of the propaganda to hide and lessen the impact
of the conspiracy against the Filipino people.
