How to Write About Issues
An issue is an important topic that people are discussing or arguing about. The agent raised the issue of prize-money for next year’s world championships. A key issue for higher education is diversity of courses. The word also refers to the number of a publication, such as an edition or a volume of a magazine. An issue of a newspaper is printed once a week or month.
If you write about an issue, your article should have a strong opinion. Use quotes and statistics, and make sure your arguments are well-documented. You can also add links to other articles or websites that provide further evidence and information.
Some people use the term in a different sense, to mean someone’s problems or difficulties: A man who picks fights may have anger management issues; a company that is being investigated for fraud has financial issues. However, most of the Usage Panel frowns on this usage as imprecise or euphemistic.
You can create a file folder to collect articles about the issues that interest you most. Then, start writing your article. Be sure your one sentence opinion is clearly stated at the beginning of the article and supported by each paragraph. Make sure to include both sides of the argument so that your readers will be informed. When you’re finished, share your article in the Comments area.