Chapter one summary

Chapter one summarizes the basic news values and principles, and the key differences between standard news writing and editorial writing.

A writer's first responsibility is to the public. As a columnist, this means taking a specific side on an issue--supporting one candidate over another, supporting or attacking a proposed plan,  fully explaining why and sticking with it. The writer must cover both sides of the issue to do this, or they risk being ignored.

A good editorialist is a good reporter. This means he or she must have experience as a journalist in order to make judgment calls on issues to support or not.

Columnists, like all journalists, must avoid conflicts of interest and quickly bring to light any errors in reporting in order to maintain the public's trust.
There are several things to consider beyond what issues to write about.

Columnists must realize that pain will be involved in their writing. They will draw anger towards themselves--or occasionally cause emotional distress for the friends and family of public figures under scrutiny.

This is an inevitable part of writing. It is the writer's job to determine how to minimize harm and create the most benefit possible for the largest number of people (such as using the utilitarian standard).