Writing and Publishing an Op-Ed

One evening a few weeks ago, I recognized one of my Reporting students in a Yahoo news story on how UO officials decided to end the university’s Ultimate Frisbee season early because players had, among other infractions, played without pants.  “Kevin,” I told him in class the next day.  “You’ve got to write an op-ed about this.”

He gazed across the table in dismay.  “I can’t,” he said.  “It’s too painful.”

To clarify, an op-ed piece refers to guest commentary, most often found in the opinion and editorial pages of a newspaper.  Editors on staff write the editorials, and they run a selection of syndicated columnists on the opinion page.  As well, they typically run one or two guest commentaries from members of the community.  My guest commentaries have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Oregonian, and The Register Guard.  It’s the latter paper to which I felt Kevin should appeal with his perspective on why his team chose to play “a naked point” and how he felt about not finishing the Ultimate Frisbee season.

He humored me and wrote a draft of an 800-word commentary that rippled with pain and frustration.  “It feels too angry,” he told me.  He was right.  An op-ed piece isn’t a rant.  It’s opinionated, but balanced.  Like any good essay, it takes the reader on the writer’s journey from question and/or conflict to answer and/or resolution.

They can be great fun to write.  Sometimes, I’ve crafted op-eds from a news story, as in my piece for The Christian Science Monitor, “When Giving Back Gives Even More.” Other times, I’ve written evergreen op-eds–stories applicable to any time period, as in “The Wings of Eagles” which I co-wrote with my husband for The Register Guard.

Those who craft op-ed pieces based on news stories must jump on them quickly, writing and submitting the piece to editors between 24-48 hours after the story breaks.  Others writing evergreen social commentary can afford to let an op-ed sit for a while between drafts.  Kevin’s story was timely; he had to revise his op-ed quickly while the UO Frisbee debacle was still fresh in people’s minds.  He talked with the editor at The Register Guard, and recrafted the piece so that it was more objective, yet still fierce in its critique of the university’s Club Sports Executive Committee.  The result appeared in the May 20th edition, titled “For Frisbee team, penalty doesn’t make sense.”

Written your own opinion piece, but not sure where to send it?  Fairleigh Dickinson University offers an up-to-date list of major newspapers along with the names of opinion editors and contact information, and Duke University’s associate vice president for news and communications provides helpful guidelines for anyone hoping to write and publish in this genre.

“But what if people criticize me for having an opinion?” another of my students worried in class.

They will.  If your op-ed includes your name and e-mail address, you’ll likely receive both fan mail and diatribes from people who disagree with your perspective.

In my mind, that’s part of the fun.