Student Workshop: "The Art and Ethics of Opinion Journalism"

In this workshop for students interested in journalism, Guardian Columnist Arwa Mahdawi will look at the role of opinion journalism in an increasingly polarized world, and the difference between opinion, news, and analysis. Why does opinion writing matter? What should a good opinion piece achieve? How do you distinguish opinion, editorials, news, and analysis? How does opinion writing complement reporting? A combination of theory and practical advice, the interactive workshop will cover ideas of objectivity, fairness, and credibility in journalism as well as looking at the ways in which journalists navigate digital harassment. Arwa Mahdawi is a columnist at The Guardian, the author of Strong Female Lead, and a member of Flaming Hydra, a worker-owned journalism cooperative. She covers an expansive beat, including everything from politics to pop culture, but her work often focuses on marginalized groups and systems of power. Arwa is also a visiting practitioner for the 2025/26 academic year at the Center for Media at Risk at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. In her role at the Center for Media at Risk, Arwa has been working on a project about the rise of self-censorship in newsrooms.