by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: January 07, 2010

There are thousands of political articles on the internet, and the competition for an individual who wants to gain an audience is astounding. It would be easier to provide tips for political articles by confronting the fact that the world and the nation has highly polarized pockets of perspective on political issues and politics in general.  There are many savvy, knowledgeable and opinionated readers who are looking for well supported fact, logical presentation of ideas, and support for their perspectives and opinion.

Political issues are increasingly complex, cross many fields of study, and writing about those issues requires good research based on quality sources. It is very easy to make a quantitative, or numerical guess, but it is amazing how quickly a reader will challenge the numbers or the conclusions that are based on guesswork.

The most fruitful tips, given the fractured, fast paced and complicated political environment, is to consider the audience, the forum, the topic, your knowledge about the issue, and your perspective on the issue.

CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE: A conservative polemic that is full of personal anecdote, rough language, personal attacks,  has no citations, and is completely from a personal perspective will not go over well where the audience is predominantly liberal and vice versa!  The best forums allow non confrontational and well mannered expression of all points of view. Argument that is well mannered and well moderated can happen where there is a diverse audience, but constant and extreme expressions should be aimed at an audience that will be receptive to those expressions.

If the audience includes individuals who work in many fields, have a lot of knowledge about the topic, and who have life and work experience in the subject area, it is best to present solid and well supported fact and to ramp up the neutrality.  A fairly objective and neutral perspective that focuses on solid fact and evidence will gain a wider audience that may have people who will disagree, but who will take the time to read the article.

THE RIGHT LEVEL AND FORM OF OBJECTIVITY AND NEUTRALITY IS IMPORTANT: When tempted to force the facts into the form that supports only one side, objectivity is lost. When objectivity is lost, those who look for objectivity will click away so fast that the article will not matter to them. In many cases, even those who would usually agree will be put off by bias, rhetorical

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>