How To Prepare From Newspaper Editorials For Ias?

Whenever it comes to preparing for UPSC Civil Services Examination, the first thing that comes to the mind after NCERTs is Current Affairs…..and when it comes to Current Affairs, what better source than the Newspaper. One can refer Current Affairs Magazines to add on but can never risk skipping Newspapers altogether.

The most important pages in the Newspaper are the “EDITORIAL” and the “IDEAS” pages.

WHY ARE EDITORIALS IMPORTANT AND HOW CAN THEY BE UTILISED FOR EXAM PURPOSE?

• Editorials help in building a thought process about any issue of importance. They help us have an informed opinion (argument substantiated with facts) about any issue. (This is helpful in Mains as well as Interview stages of the exam).
• Editorials give us Value Addition points on various topics which helps our answers look different and unique from others’ thus helping us fetch some extra marks. E.g. - An Editorial on Women Reservation in Legislature mentioned about then member of Constituent Assembly Renuka Ray’s argument against Women Reservation. This name and the argument can be added in the answer to make it more informative.
• Editorials help to build perspective over different news articles and interlink one subject with the other. E.g. – Editorials relating to Same-Sex Marriage helped interlink Polity, Society and Ethics and helped build a perspective over its legality and acceptability in India and the world.
• Editorials give data facts, quotes, and case studies etc. which help us in adding unique points to our answers.
• The structure of the Editorials give an idea about structuring our answers in Mains, like first the writer introduces the theme, then goes on to discuss the issues/causes/impacts of the theme, then moves to suggestions/resolutions/measures/ way forward of the topic and then finally concludes the topic on a positive note. This is the same way that we are supposed to structure our answers.
• Some Editorials are helpful for Optional papers as well. For instance, the articles of C.Rajamohan, Christophe Jefferlot and Pratap Bhanu Mehta (all write for Indian Express) are helpful for Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) Optional.

So, this way Editorials help us in several ways for our exam. Apart from exam purpose, Editorials help us become a rational minded person and transform ourselves into a more mature being.

You can also read: Importance Of Current Affairs In Interview

So, now you dare not skip the Editorial section of the Newspaper.