Everyone has an opinion. In the social media age, it is easy to get your opinion out there and people can say basically anything. In spite of the plethora of avenues in which one is given an opportunity to say their peace, the MATC Times offers a valuable platform for having your voice heard. As such, we are always accepting submissions for the Opinion articles (and other subjects as well). As the Opinion Editor, I would love nothing more than to work with you on constructing an article that most effectively shares what you have to say and meets our journalistic standards.
Newspapers are home to a lot of different types of articles, but the opinion section is specifically valuable for its ability to get readers to engage with new ideas. For example: if you are someone who has some thoughts about the way MATC operates, and wants to talk to the rest of the school about how it doesn’t work or could be improved, then writing an opinion piece would be a perfect place to get that message out.
Issues pertaining to MATC are only one example of course. We would love to read submissions from students who have anything interesting to share. If you have written an assignment for English or Speech class and learned a great deal about a certain topic, you could easily use your new knowledge to support an opinion piece on the subject. In my own instance of this, I wrote a speech for class about the importance of Milwaukee’s strong public transportation. I still have an article in my draft folder about why the county needs to invest more into the system for this reason! There are endless subjects to write about and we are excited to work with anyone as long as they are amenable to some rules.
Those rules are inflexible, but a crucial part in maintaining the integrity of the newspaper format. It is important that opinions published in our paper are well researched and are supported with evidence-based claims. The reader is open to disagree with the conclusions presented within an opinion piece, but the claims made within will always be rooted in facts. The ability for a reader to trust what is written in a paper should be what makes the format more valuable than something like a post on social media or an unsourced blog.
If you make a submission to the MATC Times, in addition to spelling and grammar checks, we will also be ensuring the work is true and is not plagiarized. These checks are essential to building trust with our readership. Establishing trust from the reader is something that the Times has worked hard to build and maintain. I am so proud to have worked under our staff who have pushed the paper to become what it is today. I am hopeful you will join me and share your thoughts on the issues that impact our community. Join our team. Click here and fill out a staff application. Tell us about yourself and what you’re interested in writing about. Click here if you want to submit a Letter to the Editor.
