Inquirer Editors Discuss Writing Op-eds,
Future of Journalism in Visit to Bryn Mawr
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Bryn Mawr and Haverford students with co-instructor Richard Stahnke in the "Policy Analysis and Economic Advocacy" seminar |
Students at Bryn Mawr got some valuable tips about entering the arena of public opinion when Philadelphia Inquirer Associate Editor John Timpane and columnist Chris Satullo, a former editorial-page editor, visited the College last week. The veteran journalists met with an economics seminar and had lunch with editors and writers from the Bi-College News.
Timpane and Satullo were invited to campus by Professor of Economics David Ross. He hopes to help students in the seminar, titled "Policy Analysis and Economic Advocacy," learn to translate the fruits of academic research and applied economic analysis for audiences outside of the academy. Ross teaches the course with Lecturer in Economics Richard Stahnke.
While the classroom topic was successfully writing and submitting opinion pieces, the two editors agreed that the conversations that happen before any writing is done are often most crucial.
"The key to editing is talking," said Satullo. "We're constantly bouncing ideas off each other in the newsroom, and it's those conversations that take place before a single word is typed that matter the most.”
Satullo gave an example of recently having "the idea of a notion of a sketch of a possibility" for a column but not being sure how to proceed. He brought the idea up with Timpane, who advised him to "write it just like that."
Inquirer Editor John Satullo's Tips for Getting Your Opinion Published
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| 1. Write hot off the news — "I come in every morning with an idea of what I'd like to find based on what's happening in the news. Submissions need to be about what's happening now, not last week. If you have an idea, sit down and write it right now."
2. Write with standing — "We get hundreds of rants every day. It’s critical that you establish the authority of your personal connection to the news event you've written about. If you're a female college student, write about the issues you and your peers are struggling with — financial aid, landing your first job."
3. Have an opinion with the potential to change minds — "You can't just say, 'This sucks,' you have to say, 'This sucks, and here's what we should do.' The majority of our submissions are polemics. However, the most persuasive arguments, and those most likely to get published, consider the other side."
4. Do some original reporting — "If you make a phone call and talk to an expert or someone intimately involved in a topic and incorporate that into your piece, you've given me something no one else has. Editors are hungry for something original."
5. Use the subject field of your e-mail wisely — "There's simply no way for me to read every submission that gets sent. If you don't catch my attention with your subject line, I'll probably never look at your e-mail."
6. Do some market research — "Know the paper or magazine you’ree submitting to. You have a much better chance if you've wisely assessed the needs and preferences of your target venue." |
The column ended up being one of Satullo's most talked-about and well-received pieces.
Once you've sat down to type, the most important thing to keep in mind is that "the first one to raise their voice in an argument loses,"said Timpane.
"The most effective op-eds show that they've heard the other side of an argument and that they respect it, but then the writer shows why their opinion is the more valid," he added.
Respecting the other side of an argument also forces writers to choose topics in which right and wrong isn't so clear cut, said Satullo.
"When it comes to the really complicated issues we face, most of us have some degree of ambivalence. If I'm reading a piece and see the echoes of my own ambivalence, I'm much more likely to consider it," he said.
During class, Timpane and Satullo spent some time with students looking over a number of op-eds and pointing out the pieces' strengths and weaknesses. The editors also talked with students about their career paths.
Other speakers who have or will be coming to class include the district director for U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak; legislative directors for a state senator and a state representative; Tu Packard '71, a senior economist with Economy.com; and Hepburn Center Fellows Susan Wood and Cynthia Eyekuze-diDomenico.
"The vast majority of our students pursue careers in public policy, law or business," said Ross. "Hence they are much more likely to write about economics for a lay than an academic audience. In this seminar, we seek to bridge the gap between their preparation as economists and the roles they're likely to play as policy analyst, consultant or citizen activist.”
"I love this class," said Meg Doherty '08. "It's taking economic ideas and translating them into writings that are effective and readable, something that is sometimes hard to come by in this field."
After the class, Satullo and Timpane met for lunch with editors from the Bi-College News, where the discussion centered on the future of journalism.
They told the students that tomorrow's journalists are going to have to be multimedia jacks of all trades, as comfortable creating and editing a video clip or podcast to go directly to the Web to cover spot news as they are spending months on an in-depth piece of investigative journalism.
Both editors agreed that the future of print journalism may be on the Web, but they pointed out that even the most successful news sites have yet to figure out how to generate profits, and that original content is still mostly created by traditional print-media outlets.
"The business model that has paid me for the past 30 years is just about dead," Satullo told a student journalist. "But whatever's going to take its place is yet to be developed and it's going to be up to you all to figure out what that's going to be."
Unlike many critics of "the mainstream media" Satullo told the students that he doesn't see the evolution of the business of journalism as a threat to outlets like The Inquirer or The New York Times.
"There's still something to being able to trust the source," he said.
"A guy like Drudge wouldn't last a second in our building because he gets so much wrong," added Timpane, who at one point in the day referred to bloggers as "a bunch of lazy pajamarati" when talking about the dearth of original reporting and fact-checking online.
"I was happily surprised to see them so eager to engage and exchange ideas with college students," said Bi-Co Managing Editor Andrea Milne. "They both demonstrated a respect and enthusiasm for the directions in which journalism is evolving that I found very refreshing."
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