Teaching of editorial writing

uses claims-based analysis

Current research outside the field of volved in exploring Toulmin's ideas and
journalism may give newspaper editorial explaining them to U.S. scholars.
writers and teachers of opinion writing Cronkhite' uses an easy-to-understand
new tools to help them in their work. example to illustrate Toulmin's claims
Authors ranging from composition system. He says a claim is a statement
teachers, to linguists, to philosophers, tosuch as, "Annmust not be Catholic." The
speech researchers are trying to under- hearer will probably ask, "Why?" The
stand better how one creates and ana- person making the claim will respond
lyzes effective arguments. with data, perhaps a statement such as,
Some recent work of that diversegroup "She is divorced." If the listener does not
promises to shed light on the way good see the relation between the data and the
editorial writers intuitively create clear, claim, the person making the claim will
compelling arguments. probably add a warrant that explains the
One of the most promising efforts is a relationship. This may be the statement,
model that describes five related kinds of "A woman cannot be Catholic and be
statements, called claims. Each kind of divorced."
claim can play a specific role in the If the listener expects some proof of
creation of an editorial or other type of the warrant, the speaker may produce
persuasive writing. Suppott for the warrant. Toulmin also
Understanding the kinds of claims and anticipates that the scope of the argument
their uses helps reveal the process of may be restricted by a qwZfJer. He also
creating and supporting well-reasoned allows for exceptions to the warrant in
arguments. A writer can also use the what he calls a n?Wal. With the qualifier
claims model to judge whether an argu- and rebuttal included,the statementabout
ment is logical and well-supported. Ann might be phrased, "Awoman cannot
Teaching editorial writing now con- be Catholic and be divorced unless she
was diuoned befoe she was converted."
sists largely of studying finished editorials
- the products. The claims approach A claim is an inference or conclusion
offers an opportunity to shift some of the capable of being supported by evidence
teaching effort to an examination of how and reasoning. It makes an assertion
editorials may have evolved into their about an issue that is, to some degree,
published form - the process. uncertain. Claims are made publicly with
the intent that others will accept them,
Related studies and they are offered with the implication
The idea of building or analyzingargu- that they are entitled to acceptance be-
ments by using claims is a modern devel- cause of underlying reasons which would
opment in the centuries-old discipline of show them to be well-founded.'
rhetoric. English philosopher Stephen Claims differ from facts. Facts are
Toulmin, in the late 1950s,developed the verifiable and need no supporting argu-
concept that argument begins with the ments. If a dispute arises about a fact, it
statement of a claim. In his book l3e Uses usually is settled by making observations
of Atgument,' he explains that claims or by referring to a dictionary,an encyclo-
trigger arguments,because if they are not pedia, or another authoritative source of
accepted, they require support. Brock- factual information. In a disagreement
riede and EhningerZ quickly became in- about facts, only one side can be right. A
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EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989
 persuasive argument will not alter the oped by other courts. One of their
situation, and the right answer can be conclusions was that opinion writers are
determined. Most people have a sense still at some risk, because discriminating
that certain kinds of statements are facts between fact and opinion, in a legal
and are not worth arguing about. Here sense, is no easy task. They also found
are some examples of facts: that the various courts apply the Supreme
1.Washington, D.C., is the U.S. capital. Court's four-factor test unevenly.
2. There are three feet in a yard.. For the purposes of the discussion at
3. Whales are mammals. hand, a fact will be defined as a verifiable
Claims also differ from opinions. statement. If there is doubt that a state-
Fahnestock and Secor explain the differ- ment can be verified, or if verification
ence: would be difficult or impossible, it should
Only one kind of statement de- be classified as a claim. In this article, a
serves the label opinionin the sense statement of expert opinion will be clas-
of "something that cannot be ar- sified as a claim. Graves and Oldsef
gued about." Once we idenufy it we define expert opinion as a statement made
will at the same time have defined by an authority about a subject within his
argument. To be brief, we cannot or her field of expertise. This kind of
argue for anything whose grounds statement will be distinguished from
of support are wholly personal. For opinion by the Fahnestock and Secor
example, how could a statement personal-grounds test.
such as "I like vegetable soup" be A number of authors have modified
supported? I can give all kinds of Toulmin's claims-based model of argu-
reasons why I like vegetable soup ment. Cronkhik? expands Toulmin's claim
- because I like vegetables, be- model into an argument diagram of "units
cause I like soup, because it re- of proof" linked by "warrant claims" and
minds me of winter afternoons and "data claims." McCroskeyIo combines
my mother, because it is nutritious. Aristotelian ideas about the enthymeme
But all my reasons amount to expla- with Toulmin's labels for the parts of an
nation, not argument. And most of argument.
them are obviously personal, the Ehninger" and others categorize three
kind of statements that only "I" can types of claims: factual claims, value
make.5 claims, and policy claims. Ehninger also
These authors consider an opinion a discusses reasoning from known effects
statement of preference whose grounds to probable causes and from causes to
are wholly personal. Fahnestock and probable effects, but he does not classify
Secor define as arguable those statements this as a type of claim.
"whose grounds of support do not de- Wilson1zmakes a semantic analysis of
pend on the individual who holds them.n various kinds of statements, which in-
The US. Supreme Court has struggled clude some claims. He identifies five
with the question of how to distinguish statement types: attitude statements,
opinion from other kinds of statements in empiricalstatements,analyticalstatements,
libel cases. The decision of Ollman v. value statements, and metaphysical state-
Eva& presents "four factors" used to ments. Wilson's work develops the idea
assess whether a newspaper reader would that criteria play a central role in making
consider a statement to be fact or opinion. judgments out of which claims grow.
These factors are the statement's mean- The various claims strategies for devel-
ing, verifiability, general written context, oping arguments are theory-based. Their
and broader social context. Stonecipher
and Sneed7examined the Supreme Court's Porter is assistantprofessorof commu-
four-factor test along with methods devel- nications at Brigham Young Univmfty.
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EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989 JJ
roots extend back to classical Greek and of gathering evidence, drawing conclu-
Roman rhetoricians. Modern research sions, and defending those conclusions.
supports some rhetorical principles. Sudweeks is not the first to identify or
This contrasts sharply with journalistic
label the claims included in his model.
writing strategies presented in many edi- Cronkhite, Ehninger, Wilson, and others
torial writing textbooks. Most texts teachalready cited developed similar concepts
editorial writing by showing examples of and used the same or similar identifying
various editorial types and urging stu- labels. Graves and Oldsey16developed
dents to emulate the writers who pro- four categories of judgments that are
duced them. Examples and urgings are similar to Sudweeks' five claim types.
accompanied by rules and maxims too Sudweeks made a major contribution
numerous to keep in mind easily. through his insight that the claims are
Some modern authors, however, espe- hierarchical. He refined the list of claims
cially S t ~ n e c i p h e r , ' ~
Hulteng," and
to a manageable but comprehensive five.
Rystr~m,'~ refer to principles supportedHe recognized that claims might be cate-
by research. Their work includes topics gorized in more than one of the five
such as selective perception, perceived categories and proposed that a claim
source credibility,one-sidedvs. two-sided should always be placed in its highest
presentations, primacy vs. recency, and possible category.
the "sleeper effect." Sudweeks teaches students to discrimi-
Still, many available textbooks on edi-nate among opinions, facts, and claims.
torial writing contain only the beginningsStudents then learn to identify the five
of an integrated set of principles. Strate-
claim types. They move then to use the
gies for newspaper editorial writing are, claims model to analyze and create argu-
for the most part, not theory-based. ments.
Cookbook approaches are often pre- Sudweeks' five claim types are:
sented, bolstered with numerous sample 1. Factual claims
editorials. Authors urge their readers to 2. Definitional claims
clarify purpose, choose an appropriate 3. Causal claims
tone, provide background, use logic, 4. Value claims
recognize differing points of view, etc. 5. Policy claims
But students are left to generalize from The followingdefinitionsand examples
too many sample editorials. They are are adapted from Sudweeks' classroom
asked to keep in mind and apply too materials."
many maxims as they write. Current Factual claims are statements about
textbook approaches are based primarily the existence of some person, object, or
on learning from the product - the condition. They are inferences rather
finished editorials. than readily verifiable simple facts. Their
assertions lie beyond the easily proven. If
Discussion a disputation arises over whether a state-
Richard R Sudweeks, an assistant pro- ment is factual and therefore verifiable, it
fessor of education at Brigham Young can fit easily into this category of claim.
University, teaches students to analyze Graves and Oldsey label this kind of
and formulate arguments using five kinds statement a "probability judgment.''I8
of related claims. He developed his Examples: "The rate of inflation will
claims-basedmodel as he evaluatedschool slow this year." "President Carter tried
programs, products and personnel, and to avoid war." "The Earth travels in an
taught courses in educational evaluation. elliptical orbit."
Evaluation has developed as a specialty Definitional claims are statements
field in education, and evaluators are about how something should be defined.
developing powerful systematic methods Their purpose is to classify people and
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3$ EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989
things in ways that influence how an lower order.
audience will perceive them and respond. In summary, claims are inferences,
Linking verbs (is, was, are, were) charac- judgments, or conclusions capable of being
terize this kind of statement. supported by evidence. Some claims can
Examples: “Jefferson was a deist, be used as evidence for others. The rules
not an atheist.” “Underreporting tax- that govern this use are as follows:
able income is dishonest.” “He is a 1. Each claim should be defined in its
workaholic.” highest possible order.
Causal claims assert that one event 2. When a claim is used as evidence to
was caused by another event that came support another claim, the supporting
before. This kind of statement can be claim should be one of a lower order than
rephrased in the form, “If X, then Y.” the claim being supported.
Examples: “If one fails to study,
one’s grades will suffer.” “Eating fatty Claims-based analysis of the
foods leads to heart trouble.” ‘‘Societies editorial writing process
with the death penalty have fewer Editorials designed to argue a point of
murders.” view grow out of the writer’s judgment
Valueclaimsassert that some object or about whether something is good or bad,
entity possesses or lacks worth, merit, or right or wrong. Judgment implies the
utility. They declare that something is existence of some criterion or set of
good or bad, desirable or undesirable. criteria against which performance can be
Examples: “Harding was the worst measured. A criterion is a statement of
U.S. president.” “Downtown parking whatshouldbe. Criteria tell what “should,”
facilities are inadequate.” “Gambling “ought,”or “must“be done or describe the
threatens public morality.“ state of affairs that should exist. State-
Policy claim recommend that an ac- ments of what should be are policy claims,
tion should or should not be taken or such as, “Congressshould limit imports of
propose that a policy or state of affairs steel.
should be continued or discontinued. Editorial writers make judgments about
Words such as “should,” “ought,” and good and bad, right and wrong by
“must” characterize this kind of claim. comparing whatshould be with evidence
Examples: “Congress should limit about existing conditions-what is. These
imports of steel.” “The state needs a judgments are expressed as value claims.
lottery.“ “Highschool graduation stan- For example, if the Congress were consid-
dards must be upgraded.” ering a bill to encourage the importation
Sudweeks teaches that the policy claim of more foreign steel, an editorial writer
is the highest order claim, and a factual would compare this information with his
claim is the lowest order. In an argument, view of what should be. If he believed
claims may be used as one kind of evi- that foreign steel imports should be lim-
dence to support other claims. However, ited, his judgment would be that the bill
whep a claim is used as a piece of sup- is bad. This could be expressed as a value
porting evidence for another claim, it claim, such as, “The steel import bill is a
must support one of a higher order. bad piece of legislation.”
For example, policy claims - the The editorial might employ lower-order
highest order of claims - can be sup- claims as evidence to support the value
ported by any of the other four types. A judgment. Here are some possible ex-
policy claim, on the other hand, cannot amples:
support a value claim, because it is of a Causal Claims - “If more cheap
higher order. But a value claim can be foreign steel is allowed into the country,
supported by a causal claim, a definitional it will mean the loss o f h e r i c a n jobs. But
claim, or a factual claim - those of a if the faltering U.S. steel industry has
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EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989 35
another profitable year to recover, capital These questions and their order relate
might be accumulated to modernize out- directly to the hierarchy of claims. This is
ofdate steel plants." shown in Table I.
Definitional Claims - "selling steel, TABLE1
subsidized by foreign governments, in Relationship Between Questions and
America's profit-orientedeconomyis unfair
product dumping. A fair market price for
-m
a product is one that includes the cost of T@ of Claim
Question Found in Answer
production plus a reasonable profit."
Factual Claims - "The U.S. steel 1. what is it?? D e f i n t i d Claim
industry is showing a profit for the second 2. How did it get that way? Causal Claim
consecutive year. The demand for steel 3. Is it good or bad' Value Claim
will remain strong through the rest of this 4.What should we do about it? Policy Claim
year."
Other evidence, in addition to claims, Fahnestock and Secor's questions cor-
might be used to support the position that respond to Sudweeks' claim types rang-
steel imports should be limited. Facts ing from a lower to a higher order. An-
might be used, such as the current price swering the four questionsmoves a writer
of domestic and imported steel and fig- throughthe process of developinga frame-
ures showing the current import rate. work for a persuasive editorial. Deciding
Expert opinion might be included, such whether the situation or thing is good or
as the prediction of market analysts on the bad should include a review of available
effect of increasing steel imports. evidence. That step would include con-
The process that identifies the central sidering answers to questions 1 and 2,
issue of a persuasive editorial consists of: plus reviewing other available facts or
(1) deciding what should be, (2) gather- factual claims.
ing information and evidence about what
is, and (3) comparing what is with what Conclusion
should be to form a value judgment. Hierarchical claims offer editorial writ-
A working editorial writer will not ers a promising set of principles for devel-
always follow the steps in the order listed. oping or analyzing persuasive editorials.
He or she may gather the evidence, then Because there are only five claim types, a
make a judgment using personal criteria writer can hold them in mind and remem-
that are never specifically stated. On ber the roles they play in arguments. By
another occasion, the writer may make understanding these roles, the writer can
the judgment, then review the evidence more clearly see strengths and weak-
that will support it. But the above three nesses in a finished or an evolving edito-
steps seem central to the process of devel- rial.
oping an argument to support a point of The concept of hierarchical claims
view. grows out of the rhetorical tradition. Lit-
Fahnestock and Secor's textbook on erature on rhetorical theory is abundant
persuasive writing19presents an easy-to- Modern research in many diverse disci-
remember formula that can serve well the plines seeks to undergird rhetorical the-
writers of persuasive editorials. An argu- ory with empirical data. Further research
ment, they say, may be developed by using the claims approach to editorial
answering four questions: writing could help supply a much-needed
1. What is it (the issue, event, or theoretical base for persuasive journalis-
situation)? tic writing.
2. How did it get that way? Finally, a major benefit of using the
3. Is it good or bad? claims approach to teaching editorial
4. What should we do about it? writing is that it begins to reveal rilbre
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38 EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989
about the process involved. Traditional which is not reflected in studies of like
approaches, on the other hand, ask that careers (e.g. public relations, journalism).
students divine the process from studying If men and women perceive less differ-
the finished product. ences, the implications for women are
encouraging.
'Stephen Toulmin, Tbe Uses ofArgummzt (Cam- First,if it is m e that women are actually
bridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1959). increasing in management positions in
Wayne E. Brodviede and Douglas Ehninger,
"Toulmin on Argument: An Interpretation and the organization, so may their input into
Application," QuarterlyJoumalofS p e c b , 46~44-53. the decision making process of ad devel-
G u y Cronkhite, Psrsuasion: Speecb and Be- opment. Consequently, there may be a
brmioral Cbange (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill greater sensitivity to female markets and
Company, Inc., 1969), pp. 44-45.
Richard R Sudweeks, Claim (Unpublished female clients.
dass material for BrighamYoung University course, With this greater value ascribed to the
Eva'Jeanne Fahnestock and Marie Secor, A Rhetoric female role in advertising, women may
ofArgummt(New York: Random House, 1982), p. find more open doors of opportunity for
14. managerial positions there than in other
750 F. 2d 970,975,979,980 @.C. Cir. 1 9 W
Harry W. Stonecipher and Don Sneed, "Libel communication-related fields such as
and the Opinion Writer: The Fact-Opinion journalism.
Distinction," Journalism @artery, 64691498 Second, the perceived androgyny of
(Summer, Autumn 1987). the field of advertising may lead women
Harold F. Graves and Bem;lrd S.Oldsey, Fmm
Fact to tJd' (New York: The Maanillan
to believe that it is less gender-focused,
Company, 1957), pp. 260-261. and thus may allow women more flexibil-
9 Cronkhite, op. cit. ity to express themselves. This should not
l o James C. McCroskey, An Inhpduction to minimize the constant struggle that many
Rbetoriucl Communication, 2nd Edition (New Jer- women advertisingexecutiveshave faced
sey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972), pp. 83-108.
Douglas Ehninger, B.E. Gronbeck, and A.H. and still face in light of a male-dominated
Monroe, Bnciples of Speecb Communication, 8th profession. However, it does suggest that
brief edition, (Glenview, Illinois: SCOU,Foresman women may not perceive as great a need
and C o ~ ~ l 19 y80,), pp. 240-245. to "prove" themselves at the expense of
l a John Wilson, Language and tbe Pursuit of
Tmtb (Cambridge, England:Cambridge University job satisfaction.
Press, 1980), pp. 5674. Studies show that women in a variety
Harry W. Stonecipher, Editorial and Persua- of professions have had to develop more
sivs Writing (New York: Hastings House, 1979), androgynous,male-oriented stylesin order
especially chapters 9 and 10.
I4J.L. Hulteng, Tbe Opinion Function: Editorial
to compete with men for positions. Given
and Interpretivs Writingfor tbe N s w Media (New the nature of the advertising environment
York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1973). and the relatively small differences in
Is Kenneth P. Rystrom, Tbe Wby, Wbo andHow male/female perceptions of job suitabil-
of tba Editorial Page (New York: Random House, ity, women may see more promising
1983).
Harold P. Graves and Bernard S. Oldsey, op. opportunities in the industry.
cit., p. 248. While more data are needed to verify
l7 Sudweeks, op. cit. this trend, Hartman (1988, p. 8) provides
In Graves and Oldsey, op. cit., p. 108. a starting point in his study which re-
I9 Fahnestodc and Secor, op. cit.
vealed that "...at least in the creative
departments of advertising agencies,
women have either achieved parity with
Advertising men or are moving expeditiously toward
continued from page 10 that goal."
Despite some notable differences be- Advertisii Age, Christopher, June 9, 1986,p. 76;
tween men and women in advancement Foxworth, April 2,1986,p. M12; Glibman, May
opportunities, both groups seem to rec-
ognize a certain androgyny in advertising C 0 " U E D p. 57
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EDUCATOR/WINTER 1989 37