Writing Op-eds

What is an op-ed?

-Excerpted from Karen Nikos-Rose, UC Davis Strategic Communications

Op-eds became a reality late in the 20th century, seen by newspapers as a way to give people a chance to write opinions, rather than just paid columnists and editors of the newspaper. The name means “opposite editorial,” referring to its placement in the newspaper. It does not mean “opinion editorial” or any other name you may have heard. Besides newspapers, online publications, television stations, and online placement services, such as The Conversation, run op-eds or essays on various topics.

First: Read the guidelines of the publication or web site they are seeking to place in. In almost ALL cases, they must be exclusive.

  1. Here’s the Sacramento Bee’s instruction pages for letters to editor, opinion, etc. Most papers have such a page. This will tell the author how long the piece should be, what is accepted, and where to send it. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/submit-letter/article3351588.html
  2. Here’s another publication’s example http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/03/04/Post-Gazette-opinion-FAQ/stories/201403040169

  3. This one is excellent!!! (the best, I’d say) and would help the author of any piece understand what their content should be for different pieces
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/252393295/Behind-the-Opinions

  4. Here is one from the New York Times. Also Great. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/opinion/tips-for-aspiring-op-ed-writers.html?mwrsm=Email

  5. And here’s something written by a UC Davis faculty member about talking to the media.
    https://medium.com/literate-science/hey-scientist-are-you-ready-to-talk-to-the-media-dd18f0872d34#.tps2iyoqq

  6. An NYU history prof writes a blog entry about how and why he writes op-eds. Good advice from an academic on how to write for the masses: http://www.processhistory.org/why-and-how-i-write-op-eds/

  7. The Conversation. This is an entity UC works with regularly. The pieces are longer than regular op-eds. They want faculty to work with them on the piece. One should not submit a piece that is already written and shopped around. Instructions are here. Please contact Strategic Communications if you are interested in this publication. That office will assist you with the process. Here are their guidelines. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DA6TxOk--6WhOu4uIFmZSbt2nZp00uPgE_UxRRiBcGM/edit

 

Examples of UC ANR op-eds

"Why we need to treat wildfire as a public health issue in California" in The Conversation. Written by Faith Kearns and Max Moritz.