"It is Really Hard to do It Well"

Sarah Gassen speaks to Journalism teachers about the writing of good opinion articles.

One valuable lesson learned today from Editorial writer Sarah Gassen is that writing opinion articles is much harder than we all think. Writing a good opinion article goes beyond saying what we think.

"It's a big responsibility and it takes a lot of work to do it well," says Gassen.

To write a a good opinion piece, according to Gassen, writers have to talk to people, do research, investigate the whole story and find proof.

"You can't be a good opinion writer without being a good reporter," says Gassen.

As a new journalism teacher, I did not know that opinion was more than just searching the internet for facts to support ideas. It takes a lot more reporting work than I thought.

Opinion writers, not only present facts already given by another news writer, but they have to investigate their own facts and use them to express an opinion.

"Power comes from facts. Power comes from specifics."

Janet Amezcua

Olympian High School

Chula Vista, CA