Speaker 1: The following lesson is linked to Learning Outcome 2, Reading and Viewing, and addresses the assessment standard that requires learners to explore and explain key features of texts and how they contribute to meaning. Learners should be able to identify and explain the purpose, structure and language use in texts across the curriculum, recognize the writer's and or the character's viewpoint, and give supporting evidence from the text. Hi, I'm Becky, and this series of lessons should put you in a good position to pick up any piece of writing and be able to read it in an informed, active and critical manner. The types of writing that we're concentrating on in this series of lessons come from the newspaper, but the skills that you're learning can be used in many other areas of your life. Well, let's start this lesson with a quick recap of what we have learned so far. We have seen that different types of articles have different intentions, and that intention means the purpose of writing. We have learned that the intention of the news article is to tell the reader about what is happening in the world. We have discovered that the intention of feature articles is to explore a range of topics in depth. We have also learned that the intention of the review is to share the opinion of somebody who knows and understands a lot about the field that they are writing in. We've already had a lesson on reviews, which give opinions, but today we're going to think about sections of the newspaper that give opinions on controversial topics like these.

Speaker 2: If the government cannot control the crime rate, then they must bring back the death penalty.

Speaker 1: Affirmative action is a chance to balance what happened in the past. Abortion is every woman's choice.

Speaker 2: Homosexuality is not natural. It's not African. The government is only looking after itself.

Speaker 1: We all have opinions about these issues, and the more controversial the issues, the more strongly we tend to feel about them. In some ways they're similar to reviews because they're subjective, in other words, based on one person's single judgment. What is different is that the editorial and opinion pages of a newspaper deal with important subjects, while the reviews are more about the things we do for fun or in our spare time. The people who write these pages also spend a lot of time choosing the subject and thinking about what they're going to say. Quite often, the writers have to be quite brave, because they sometimes say things that other people don't want to hear. In many countries, newspapers have the freedom to express their opinions, but even so, this still sometimes get editors into trouble. But before we get into too much detail, here are the outcomes for this lesson. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to Identify the intention of an editorial or opinion piece Identify the opinion that has been given Comment on how an opinion has been supported by the article The pages where the opinion columns are found often look different to the news pages. Let's take a look. What do you notice about these pages? How are they different from pages that contain news articles? When you compare the opinion pages to the news pages, what we see is that There are fewer photographs The authors of the articles have their pictures included If the opinion piece is written by a guest, the paper makes sure that this is mentioned. By laying out the pages like this, the newspaper is telling us that these are opinions that are being expressed by individual people. We can easily identify the authors, and in some cases the newspaper even tells us a little bit about them. Editorials and opinion pieces are similar, but there is a difference. Do you know what it is? When editors write their opinion, it is called editorial, and when people from outside the newspaper are invited to comment, it is called an opinion piece. We asked Fred Kumalo, the editor of the opinion pages at the Saine Times, to give us some more information. First of all, Fred explained the difference between news and opinion for us.

Speaker 2: A news article, basically, is a story that is happening now. Let's say there's been a bomb at the JSE, and we dispatch a reporter to go pick up the facts, what happened, how many people died, how many were injured, what time did it happen, and any arrests so far. That's a straightforward collection of facts as opposed to an opinion. An opinion is a well-considered piece of writing where a person takes an issue, it could be an issue that happened two or three years ago, but is still relevant today. A person, for example, would write an opinion piece on the tsunami, how it can be prevented or what can be done to save people from its effects. That is a piece of analysis, that's a piece of opinion.

Speaker 1: Okay, so now that we've heard from an expert what the difference between a news article and an opinion is, let's find out how he defines an opinion piece.

Speaker 2: An opinion piece would be, for example, we would invite maybe Dr. Manto Shabalala Msimang, the health minister, to write us a piece on the controversy around the ARVs, and she would explain the issue and, of course, include an opinion, her own take into the piece that she is writing. So that is an opinion, a person making herself or himself heard on a particular subject or on a particular issue.

Speaker 1: So, opinion pieces are written by people who are specialists on a subject. What about the editorials? Who decides what topics those cover?

Speaker 2: It's a very complex, but also at the same time simple thing that we do every week. It's a joint effort, it's a team effort. A group of section editors, for example, the chief editor, Mr. Mwangi Makanya, would sit with myself. I'm the insight and opinion editor, and also our political editor, Mr. Wali Mbele, and our deputy editor, Ray Hartley. We would sit and discuss what are the issues this week. So in any given week, we would choose one or two subjects for that week, and we just brainstorm, we tear those stories apart, and we decide as the Sunday Times, this is our stance on this issue. And we assign one of our section editors, it could be myself, it could be the editor himself, or any of the senior writers within the Sunday Times, to write on that particular issue, expressing our position as the Sunday Times, because our position will differ markedly from other newspapers, because we have got our own principles and ethics.

Speaker 1: In other words, the editorial is the opinion of the newspaper, while opinion pieces are the points of views of individuals. Why do you think it's so important to have opinion pieces and editorial in a newspaper? Why not just stick to reporting the news? This is something that you might want to think about or discuss in groups before continuing to watch this lesson. Here is Fred Kumalo's explanation of why opinion pieces and editorials are important.

Speaker 2: The insight and opinion section of the newspaper basically covers stuff like your very comprehensive feature articles, opinion pieces written by our internal writers and also external contributors. And, of course, lots of analytical pieces that constitute what we want to believe is a dialogue between people of this nation, people who live in this country. Because we believe that a good newspaper is a nation speaking to itself. The insight section of the paper provides that platform where people interact and challenge each other on issues and topical subjects.

Speaker 1: I really liked one of the things that Fred said. He said that a good newspaper is a nation speaking to itself. The newspaper provides a platform where people interact and challenge each other on issues and topical subjects. Newspapers are very important in a democracy because a newspaper is about more than just reporting the news. It is also a place where the people who read the paper can have a chance to express themselves and their own opinions. Hearing other people's opinions is sometimes the best way for us to understand what we think about a subject. The opinion pages are so important because they tell us that it is not so important that we all agree with each other, but rather that we can say what we think. Let's take a look at our diagram and plot where the opinion and editorial articles in the paper would go. The opinion piece is a subjective piece of writing. Just like the review, the opinion piece is about a person's point of view. And also like the review, it is really important to remember that the writer is trying to persuade people that their way of thinking is correct. Persuading people means that you have to make a strong argument, and as I'm sure you remember from other English lessons, a strong argument needs to be substantiated with evidence. There are four basic types of editorial articles. The first will explain or interpret. Editors often use these editorials to explain the way the newspaper covered a sensitive or controversial subject, perhaps something that has happened in government that week, or even like the example Fred gave us about the Minister of Health's opinion on anti-retrovirals. It is someone's own point of view. The second style of editorial is used to criticize. These editorials constructively criticize actions, decisions or situations while providing solutions to the problem identified. But the focus is to point out the problem, not the solution. Next up is the editorial that will persuade. Editorials of persuasion aim to immediately see the solution, not the problem. From the first paragraph, readers will be encouraged to see the writer's point of view as the way to solve the problems. And finally, there are editorials that praise. These editorials commend people and organizations for something done well. Let's review those four styles of editorial. Editorials can explain or interpret, criticize, persuade and praise. I hope you've been inspired to share your opinion. Now it is time for you to do a little research on your own. Find an example of an opinion piece and an editorial. For each article, state the writer's opinion. State the main points being made. Then, try and identify which of the four types of editorial or opinion writing each example is. That's all for today. I hope that you'll join me for our next lesson, where we continue looking at opinions. This time, the opinions of the readers of the paper. From me, Becky, until next time, goodbye. Thanks for watching.