Stating the Other Side Fairly in a Column
Find the opposing view at its strongest, state it as its holders would, avoid the straw man and concede what is true before you answer it.
Columnist
The VeriTaus Editors
The house column of VeriTaus. Notes on the craft and standards of opinion writing: clear arguments, careful sourcing, open corrections and honest headlines.
From the columnist
This is the house column of VeriTaus, kept by the editors who look after the platform. It is where we set down, on the record, the standards we think opinion writing should meet: arguing clearly, sourcing carefully, correcting openly and writing headlines that tell the truth about the story. The notes are offered as practice for columnists and as an account of what readers may fairly expect.
Start here
- Writing an Opinion Column With a Clear Argument
- Sourcing and Attribution: The Basics
- How to Write a Correction Readers Can Trust
- Separating Reporting From Opinion in a Column
- Writing a Strong Headline Without Clickbait
For the rules that apply to every story and comment on the platform, see the standards and guidelines; for how columns work, see the features page.
The column archive
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Writing an Opinion Column With a Clear Argument
State the claim in one sentence, earn it with evidence, meet the strongest objection and end with a commitment: how a column argues.
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Sourcing and Attribution: The Basics
What needs a source, why the original beats the summary, how to word an attribution and how to keep a record you can stand behind.
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How to Write a Correction Readers Can Trust
Correction, clarification or update: how to fix the text, word the note plainly, place it well and handle errors that reach the argument.
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Separating Reporting From Opinion in a Column
Facts the reader can check and judgements they can weigh: how to keep the two distinct on the page without blunting the argument.
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Writing a Strong Headline Without Clickbait
A headline is a promise the story must keep. Name the subject, say something specific about it and avoid the formulas that oversell.
