The Van Horn Advocate has been recognized by the Texas Press Association with a 2014 Texas Better Newspaper Contest Award for editorial writing.
The Advocate received a 2nd Place award for two editorials written in 2013. The first editorial was written on April 18, 2013, and it detailed the circumstances surrounding the recent Reduction in Force (RIF) that had just taken place at CCAISD.
The editorial begins this way, “The writing has been on the wall for some time. Our school district has been through some poor management dating back at least 12 years. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost, to use a cliché.â€
The second editorial was published on Oct. 24, 2013, and it was entitled, “My experience with the federal healthcare exchange.†This lead begins, “There’s been a lot of talk lately about the ‘glitches’ that have marred the new Affordable Healthcare Act marketplace website.â€
Editorial writing is judged on the fundamentals of good writing — good sentence structure, tight sentences, and of course, good grammar. But editorials are also judged on the argument presented to the reader: The initial premise argued throughout the piece must be proven, and the conclusion should be compelling and influential.
We will continue to write opinion-editorials that we believe are newsworthy to our readers. Readers should always keep in mind that an editorial is the opinion of the editor. By the same token, we will continue to approach hard news stories and features with the same vigor as editorials.
