News With A Hint of Opinion

Who is Jay Jochnowitz you may ask. Jay Jochnowitz dreamed of being an opinion writer back when he was a small child, and to his relief, his dream came true. "I happen to love this job, it's very stressful but I still love it," says Jochnowitz.

He describes his job as a shy person's perfect excuse to approach random people and just start asking questions. He is the page editor for the editorial section of the Albany Times Union.

We have discovered in my journalism class that college students have a hard time approaching random people and asking questions for a story. We much rather interview a professional, a teacher, or a friend. But, Jochnowitz opened a new light when he said that he was once a shy student and even so that didn't stop him from pursuing a dream.




Well, Mr. Jochnowitz was not always an opinionated writer. For 30 years he had to bite his tongue when it came to opinion. He was a reporter and a reporter's number one rule is to stay out of the story. "I tried," he said.

Now, Jay Jochnowitz is telling us how to write opinion pieces. Being a journalist, it's hard to draw the line between when you can and cannot write your own opinion. I once wrote an editorial for my high school paper The Sandscript, and was shot down because it was too much opinion not backed by sources.

Mr. Jochnowitz says "Tell us how you feel, but then back up and tell the news part."

Now I understand.

Jochnowitz and his crew meet every morning at 10am to discuss what they can write about next. They look through the paper and find stories that they can add their opinion to. He made us go through this same process at 10 am and it was a great learning experience. When you show people how to do something rather than just tell them about it; it really helps.

One big problem of his line of work is that it's not just the writer's opinion but how the entire Times Union wants to stand on the topic. They will not write a story or delay it indefinitely, if everyone doesn't agree on the opinion. Topics like abortion, mixed martial arts and politics can often stop editorials in their tracks.

To read more on Jay Jochnowitz : Times Union's Observation Deck or visit timesunion.com

-Mariko Cree Mosher