Active Orange County residents were invited to the Voice of OC newsroom to engage in editorial writing training as part of the Santa Ana Media Summit. Santana also gave the opening keynote address titled, “John the Debate.”

Voice of OC Publisher Norberto Santana, Jr., guided the audience in understanding the opportunity presented by writing columns.

“It’s when you stay silent and in the corner that you are in harm’s way,” Santana said. “Writing allows you to take your idea and put it to the city.”

The session focused on the potential impact in writing along with best practices, such as brevity.

“It’s not the beautiful aspects of your writing that move an op/ed. It’s the power of your spirit,” Santana said. “They don’t have to be perfect, they just need to be real.”

Any groups interested in civic engagement training – on topics including opinion writing, public records and open government – should contact Sonya Quick squick@voiceofoc.org.

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