San Diego SSN OpEd Writing Workshop

The San Diego SSN Chapter, together with the San Diego State University and the SSN national office, is pleased to provide a free OpEd Writing Workshop.

Meet the Editorial and Opinion Director of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Matthew T. Hall, who will share what he is looking for as opinion director at UT and what makes for a compelling OpEd from an academic. Matthew will also be available to answer questions from workshop attendees.

The remainder of the workshop will be conducted by Dominik Doemer, Communications Manager at the Scholars Strategy Network. The OpEd workshop is a hands-on training for scholars who want to learn how to write and pitch compelling, research-based OpEds. Participants will learn how to craft a good lede, identify and incorporate timely news hooks, signal the author’s unique and relevant expertise, increase the likelihood of publication, and structure an OpEd for maximum impact. The workshop is great for all scholars, whether they have written OpEds before or are just starting to think about writing their first piece. SSN will provide sample OpEds for attendees to review and tip sheets on writing compelling OpEds, pitching OpEds, and clear and effective communication.

Participants should come prepared with an idea for an OpEd in mind and will be guided through shaping their idea into a first draft.

The workshop is inclusive of a light lunch.

About Matthew T. Hall

Matthew T. Hall is the editorial and opinion director at The San Diego Union-Tribune, where he has worked since 2001. He manages the Ideas and Opinion section, writing and editing editorials, and overseeing a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon, op-ed commentary, letters to the editor and a podcast that interviews San Diego newsmakers. He has also been the newsroom's social media manager, a metro columnist and a reporter who covered San Diego neighborhoods, city politics and east and north San Diego County. He has been named blogger, feature writer, critic and social media personality of the year by the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and blogger and columnist of the year by the San Diego Press Club. He has won San Diego SPJ’s Herbert Lockwood “Woody” Award for humor writing and the San Diego Press Club’s Jim Reiman Enlightened Management Award for Outstanding Media Management. He is past president of the San Diego chapter of SPJ and president-elect of the national board of SPJ. He is married to a fellow journalist, and they have two daughters.