As a commentary editor, I often encounter the following situations: the topic selection is not good, and I can't write well; Good topic selection, bad angle; Good topic selection, poor writing-the manuscripts in the above three situations account for more than 91% of the contributions, and these manuscripts can be said to be difficult to get onto the layout.

News commentary is the need of deepening news reports. Because of its "deepening", its writing is more complicated than news and communication, and it needs a certain "pen power" to write well. However, commentary writing does not mean that there are no rules to follow.

Topic Selection (Subtitle)

Like writing other articles, the first thing that needs to be solved in writing a commentary is the question of "what to write".

"what to write" means, of course, "what to write about" and "what to write about".

Whether the topic is selected successfully or not is the premise of an article's success.

However, the topic itself has two basic prerequisites: if it is not a personal news event, you must ensure that the quoted news is a fact rather than a fiction; Secondly, we can't take news facts out of context and distort the facts stated in the original news. If these two points are not guaranteed, the current review will not stand from the source. (There were a lot of fake news last year)

On the basis of ensuring these two points, what's the next step?

If you choose a topic like climbing a mountain, what kind of "mountain" should you choose to climb? First of all, when writing a commentary, we should dare to write about the hot and difficult issues of social concern. The so-called "knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, we are biased towards the tiger mountain." If you don't dare to touch hot topics, the commentary will lose the value and significance of survival, because the mission of the commentary is to solve various social problems; If you dare not touch hot topics, the commentator himself will be a failed creator, and it is difficult to gain a foothold in the commentary circle.

At the same time, Tiger Mountain, as a "mountain" with too much risk, should also be carefully climbed. Walking to the "Tiger Mountain" means feeling that you can kill the "tiger" or bypass the "tiger" and cross the mountain easily. If you can't do these two things, you'd better not climb. This is the so-called "know yourself and know yourself" and do what you can.

Generally speaking, a high-risk "mountain" requires a lot of effort in conception, angle and language expression, and it takes a lot of effort to climb it. Some themes, influenced by political, social, customs and other factors of the times, are avoided by the context of the times. Such "mountains" should not be touched at last-if some restricted things are "melted" after a period of development, it is not too late to write again.

Secondly, avoid climbing mediocre and uncharacteristic "mountains". Mediocre and uncharacteristic "mountains" are hard to see novelty, so commentators should avoid such "big streams". For example, some time ago, Shanghai standardized the development of road stalls, and a batch of manuscripts came to talk about the significance of standardizing the development of road stalls for people's livelihood-it is still worth talking about that the first big city adopted such an approach; But after a while, Zhengzhou lifted the ban on the road market again, and as a result, a group of authors flocked to write about it again, but the theme was still as yesterday, so it was not much fun.

"The mountain is no longer high, and there are immortals that make it famous". Some "hills", though not high, are distinctive and interesting to write. Su Shiyan said, "It's a pity not to visit Tiger Hill in Suzhou!" In fact, Tiger Hill is only more than 31 meters, but the "hill" is rich in cultural heritage and "climbing" is also very exciting!

In short, dealing with the problem of "topic selection" is the first step to the success of current commentary writing.

Angle of writing (subhead)

Angle problem belongs to the category of "how to write"-it is the first step of "how to write".

Angle is a question of "where to start" or "how to treat a news fact".

"When viewed horizontally, the mountain side becomes a peak, and the distance is different.". A mountain, with different perspectives, will draw completely opposite conclusions and opinions.

For example, Mount Tai, you can say that it has geological scientific value-the rocks are relatively old, and the Archean metamorphic rocks are the oldest rocks on the earth, with a history of 2.5-2.8 billion years. It can be said that it has cultural value-from ancient times to the present, there are a lot of stone carving calligraphy and poetry; You can say that it is a mountain of religion, with Taoist and Buddhist buildings, Buddhist scriptures and Taoist priests; You can say that it is a mountain of emperors. When you stand on the top of Mount Tai and see the mountains like arches, you will know why emperors of all ages like to visit Mount Tai for the ceremony of closing the Zen ... So, different angles of your attention will make different comments on a mountain.

it should be noted that a "mountain" that could have been climbed may still not be climbed if the angle is not chosen properly.

If the image is more vivid, we can also compare the angle of writing articles to the path of climbing mountains, which is easy to understand. A "mountain" has gentle slopes, cliffs and precipices, and some places that can still be climbed although it is steep. When writing a commentary, it is not "all roads can lead to the top of the mountain". Because, which mountain to climb-that is, the topic, there is a "high-voltage line" problem, and which road to climb to the "top"-there is still a "high-voltage line" problem no matter which angle to choose to write an article. The "precipice" is the "high-voltage line", and such a road should be avoided from the beginning when climbing the mountain.

For example, Mount Tai, from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen to Shibanpan to the top of the mountain, you can; But the back hill is a precipice, which is not easy to climb.

Climbing a mountain has both roads that people are used to and strange roads. Which road should we choose? I think, don't climb the road that others have taken, but choose a new road that others have not taken-this new road that others have not taken is actually a "new angle" problem. Try to find such a new way to climb when writing a commentary.

this "new road" should be "walkable and can reach the top of the mountain".

Writing problem (subhead)

How to write is the second step of "how to write". It is also the process of putting the whole article on paper.

As the saying goes, "To be upright is an elegant song". But I think it is good to write a novel "Qu", but not to write a commentary.

The so-called "unyielding" means that the viewpoint is straightforward and clear, and the logic of argument is clear: the structure of the article is clear, and there is no need to beat around the bush. "What, why and how to do it"-the three parts of the article are best clear at a glance. That is to say, deduction is used more than induction, which is determined by the "news nature" of news commentary and is also needed by the fast-food era.

For example, the mountain you choose to climb is a bare mountain (what is it); You have to consider the reason (why) why this mountain is bald, which is caused by man-made logging. Or is it caused by soil and rock? Or is it caused by improper planting methods? Or is it caused by poor management? Or is it caused by lack of water? Whatever the reason, find it; After you find out the reason, you put forward a green prescription (how to do it) according to the reason. If it is caused by a reason, you can propose a solution to this reason; If it is a comprehensive reason, then there are several reasons, and you have to propose several solutions.

When writing a commentary, we must first master such a simple structure-that is to say, we don't reject other structural logics, because there is no definite method in writing, and the more styles, the better, but it is best for the commentator to master this simplest writing mode first. The problem now is that some authors want to run if they can't leave, and as a result, the articles are written in clouds and fog, which makes people confused.

In addition to the structure, another problem in writing is the language expression of the commentary. When writing a commentary, the structure of the article should be "straightforward", but the language style should be "curved" and euphemistic-at least do this: say what you want to say, but let people feel that there is no excessive words.

"Qu" is not to pretend to be abstruse and confusing, but the language should be clear, smooth and concise. Pay attention to using fewer attributes and adjectives; Use more short sentences and simple sentences, and less long sentences and complex sentences-Chinese is different from English in that it is beautiful and clean to use short sentences and simple sentences.

When commenting on the tone of the whole article, we should also pay attention to Zhang Chi's moderation and avoid being tense.

At present, it is a national problem that the language of commentary is not ideal, and the phenomena such as improper words, unsmooth sentences, sloppiness, more venting and less rational language in correspondent's contributions are more serious. It can be said that it is very difficult to find a manuscript with smooth writing and steady style that does not need to be changed-this may be related to the overall environment of "emphasizing foreign languages and ignoring Chinese" and the unscientific teaching method of Chinese as a whole.

Context of the times (subhead)

Finally, I emphasize the issue of "context of the times".

in the first part of this article, the author mentioned the concept of "context of the times". In fact, we must attach great importance to the issue of "context of the times" in the whole process of writing commentary.

The so-called "context of the times" is the freedom of language expression that the public opinion environment of the times can allow. The language expression of the commentary must be accurate and appropriate.

every society and every era has a specific "context". The "context of the times" determines whether the theme can be touched, whether the perspective of the problem is feasible and the degree of relaxation of language expression.

the last word is that the manuscript can be sent out. It is precisely because the "context of the times" determines the three major problems in writing articles, so if the "context of the times" is unclear, it is impossible to write articles; Even if it is written, it is written in vain, because it is difficult to send it out.

In a peaceful era like ours, what society needs is more rational and constructive words than destructive impulses. Confucius said: 71 and do what you want from your heart, not exceeding the moment. When writing a commentary, we should take reaching such an "old-fashioned" realm as our lifelong pursuit.

It's easy for a manuscript to "do what you want from your heart and don't overstep the rules", but it's very difficult to do it often-because we all live on earth and have worldly desires, it's too difficult to be rational and unmoved forever.

Therefore, when writing a commentary, no one can take advantage of it and get lucky, but it needs self-discipline. "Current Review" is an abbreviation for "current political review" and "current affairs review". It includes news comments, which can be based on news and can also express opinions on things around or on the author's mind. After the reform and opening up, with the advancement of the democratic process and the rise of market-oriented newspapers, it has become a bright spot in the revitalization of the newspaper industry to distinguish right from wrong, promote understanding, criticize the shortcomings of the times, guide public opinion and stimulate people's wisdom. This point, as early as 1979 in the United States, has become a * * * knowledge in academic circles-"The viewpoint function of news media has become an inseparable demand of news consumers, because they are now overwhelmed by information". Therefore, professional commentators have become a rare human resource for the survival and development of the newspaper industry, and have also become a backbone to promote social progress. Where is the visual focus of the commentator and where is the social responsibility of the commentator? More than half of this is reflected in their selection of topics for the current review. In this paper, taking Yan Lieshan as an example, the author tries to analyze the characteristics of China news commentators' topic selection.

Yan Lieshan is now a senior editor of Southern Newspaper Media Group and the editorial board of Southern Weekend, and has published more than a dozen articles on commentary and essays. In 2114, he won the Lu Xun Literature Award for his essay "One Man's Classics", becoming the only essay-winning writer in this year's Lu Xun Literature Award. (2) Now, in addition to maintaining a high-yield record of more than 111 reviews in the paper media every year, he has also written a large number of blog posts on various portals. Almost every one of his blog posts has more than a million hits. His works alert readers and shock the society, forming a "Yan Lieshan phenomenon" in which people are quick and dare to speak first.

Why can Yan Lieshan's commentary inspire the atmosphere, uphold justice and make people think? Yan Lieshan said: "The pursuit of my writing is: major theme, unique perspective, speculative color and cultural meaning." These sixteen words highlight the characteristics of Yan Lieshan's topic selection, which can be summarized as "one vertical and two horizontal".

process of topic selection: see a little knowledge

this is a vertical description of the value judgment process of the topic selection of commentators. "seeing the micro-knowledge" means seeing things at the micro-end, and then knowing their significance. This involves two actions: one is "seeing the micro" and the other is "knowing".

As a commentator, "seeing the micro" means being highly sensitive to news events and insightful about the changes in life. Yan Lieshan was able to "see the micro" because he always had the consciousness of "citizen writing". Yan Lieshan deliberately "positioned" the "citizen" nature of the writing subject, and the focus of attention was "people's livelihood and national progress". Since he is a citizen of the People's Republic of China, it has nothing to do with him: "I am what I am, not what I am, thinking what I see and saying what I think is nothing more than enjoying and slightly fulfilling my due civil rights and obligations." In this way, thoughts will naturally loosen themselves and enter the realm of freedom. Therefore, he has a wide range of topics, which can be selected from the spirit of superiors, such as "Japan's relations between the state and the people"; You can choose a topic from social practice, such as "The dog hates wine and acid and says" leftover women ""; You can choose topics from news reports, such as "Don't always try to make a typical path"; You can also choose a topic from the discussion and contention, such as "Who owns the copyright of" Tell no lies, tell no truth "?

"knowing what to do" is a follow-up activity of "seeing the micro", which needs to be achieved through comprehensive analysis and reasonable thinking on the basis of "seeing the micro". Therefore, "seeing the micro" and then "knowing the work" is actually a process from perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge, and it is necessary to get a broad understanding law on the basis of obtaining rich perceptual knowledge materials through observation, removing the false and retaining the true, from the outside to the inside, from here to there. However, not everything can be seen as small. What little things can explain the truth? What common things have unusual significance? This is actually a process of value judgment. For example, in the mid-1991s, the popular songs "The Love of the Tracker" and "Xiao Fang" were very popular and were widely sung in the streets. But Yan Lieshan saw the falsehood of the former and the hypocrisy and selfishness of the latter, so he had doubts about "Thinking of American Soldiers from Xiao Fang" and "The Love of the Tracker in Which Dynasty and Which Generation". These two commentaries dialectically found the problems hidden behind pop music amid the same media applause, which really awakened the dreamer in one word.

Topic content: Be outspoken

"Be outspoken" means to speak out without any taboo. This is the requirement of seeking truth from facts, enhancing the newsworthiness of current commentary, and finding the best fit between cognitive structure and news facts. Only when the topic is bold, under the premise of adhering to the four basic principles of the party and within the scope permitted by law, can the public opinion supervision function of the current commentary be fully reflected.

The comments of excellent commentators often hit the nail on the head, and hit the heart of the problem, which is shocking. For example, the article "Who owns the copyright of" Don't tell all lies, don't tell all the truth "was written by Yan Lieshan with the speech of the leader of his own unit as the theme. This article is very dialectical and does not shy away from the authority of the leaders of this unit. There are many similar examples in Yan Lieshan's commentary topics. According to statistics, on Yan Lieshan's blog, since 2118, * * * has 595 commentary articles, among which, there are 481 outspoken topics, accounting for 81% of his total blog posts.

Being outspoken and criticizing the shortcomings of the times is no longer an individual phenomenon that exists in individual excellent commentators. In recent years, some experts found in their surveys that more than half of the media clearly emphasized in their manuscripts with commentators that the manuscripts must be objective and rational comments on news events, not empty discussions based on the lack of news facts.

topic selection strategy: the sword is biased

"the sword is biased". It is emphasized here that the commentator's topic selection must have his own unique perspective, and he should not blindly follow suit. In today's fierce media competition, we should solve the problem of homogenization of comment topics and look for