Brian Holden: Personal attacks high on our hate list

Columnists have tough hides but a personal jibes can get under the skin. Photo / Supplied

Ever thought of becoming a columnist? If you're the type who has a lot to say, make a little extra money, and be prepared not to grizzle your way from one column to the next, then it might be just the thing for you.

So what are the essential ingredients that make a captivating newspaper column - week after week? Sigh, I wish I knew. But here's how I go about it, and come up with passible results. After trolling the headlines a few days before the deadline, there's enough to write a story or two. Just between you and me, there are times when my mind is totally blank, and I've accrued absolutely nothing, causing me to pound the pavement in search for something to add to my blank palette.

Columnists have to develop a knack of making their words of perceived wisdom interesting, entertaining with a little humour and be constantly ready to duck below the line of fire from readers. Spelling, punctuation and grammar has to be spot on - but that's not always that easy to do. I may never get to remember when to use whose or who's and I have to double-check. Four letter words are avoided in my column - and anyway, for such words or phrases to get past the editor's desk would be highly unlikely. When writing about controversial matters, one must get the facts right.

Failing to do so, risks the validity of one's argument and the topic going up in flames. Every columnist has their own style, and it would be safe to say that the Rotorua Daily Post is well covered in this respect.

There's a strong code of ethics that one should not get stuck into a fellow columnist and (as I was quick to learn) not to slag off about the newspaper in which your column appears. And no matter how livid a writer may be with regard to someone's opinion, a personal attack (which can backfire), should never be launched. Commenting on someone's idiotic actions does not necessarily mean they are an idiot. I have pledged never to fall into that trap - well up to now anyway.

So what do columnists like and dislike? We love feedback, positive or negative. In fact we may even twist the knife in a little deeper despite the risk of a negative response. High on our hate list, is when a reader launches a personal attack. We have tough hides, but personal stabs can tend to work their way under one's skin. Like the shower of bullets once fired in reaction to my opinion on the illicit drug use. The individual with a monstrous chip on his shoulder lamented, "I am ashamed to share the same planet as Mr Holden". It would be difficult to top a comment like that.

Last Thursday, a man in his 20s died when he was hit at a level crossing at Morningside, Auckland. After an earlier fatal accident and a serious injury incident on the crossing in the last two years, KiwiRail has since done "everything it could do" in terms of pedestrian safety at the crossing - but now there's this accident. So who's to blame? While some residents are "appalled" that more could have been done, others appear unconcerned, defying bells, lights and barrier arms within hours of this latest tragedy.

KiwiRail emphasises the need for people to cross at railway lines correctly at all times. Pedestrians must accept responsibility - and the use of iPods and phones have a lot to answer for. We hear of a Minnesota lawyer on her phone who was killed after being hit by a train while crossing tracks - despite all the warning signals. Another young lady in Britain on her way to work, died, after she was hit by a train. An iPod, earplugs and a phone were found near her body. A cyclist in Suffolk killed while "ambling" across the tracks, was wearing headphones and looking the wrong way. And a teenage girl died in British Columbia after being struck by a freight train while walking along the tracks and wearing headphones. In such situations, the train always wins. We do have to take responsibility for our behaviour.

-Brian Holden has lived in Rotorua for most of his life and has been writing his weekly column for 11 years.