Customer Reviews

Writing Opinion for Impact-99-C

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Although intended as a college journalism textbook for aspiring editorial and opinion writers, "Writing Opinion for Impact" has great potential utility for anyone concerned with communication through the written word.
The author begins with a thoughtful discussion of the power and responsibilities of the opinion writer, examines in detail the nuts and bolts of persuasive writing (with pertinent comments and examples from other writers as varied as Dave Barry and Mortimer Zuckerman), and devotes attention to such specialized areas as humorous writing, arts reviews, and sports. Ethical issues and common pitfalls are prominently featured throughout. For those pursuing the subject methodically, each chapter concludes with a handy summary, recommendations for further reading, and practical exercises.
Whether you are a budding mover of public opinion, a letter-to-the-editor devotee seeking greater powers of persuasion, or just a reader who wants to know how it all works, Professor Fink's work is highly recommended, not only for its content, but also as a model of lucid writing in itself. (The "score" rating is an unfortunately ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

I've read this book for a college course, and overall it is excellent.

The only strange thing about this book is that it is written in a completely different style than one of Conrad Fink's earlier books, "Strategic Newspaper Management." This one, "Writing Opinion for Impact," is quite informal, even chatty, as compared with the formal, almost traditional, style of his newspaper management book. They are so dramatically different, it's as if they weren't even written by the same person.