Op-ed

An op-ed (originally short for “opposite the editorial page”) is “a page of special features usually opposite the editorial page of a newspaper” or “an essay in a newspaper or magazine that gives the opinion of the writer and that is written by someone who is not employed by the newspaper or magazine” (both definitions are from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Op-eds are different from both editorials (opinion pieces submitted by editorial board members) and letters to the editor (opinion pieces submitted by readers).

Brian Montopoli (a writer living in Washington, D.C.; his work has appeared in The Washington Monthly and The Washington City Paper) wrote a longish piece up over at CJR Daily. It’s about op-ed editors and how people try to swindle them. Here’s a bit:

“But many editors lack the knowledge, expertise, and time necessary to weed out those trying to deceive them, and most of the op-ed editors contacted for this piece admitted — off the record — that they have been fooled more than once. And that’s only the ones they’re aware of. When an interesting piece comes over the transom, the editor’s best defense is to research the writer and his organization on the Internet, try to unearth the individual or organization’s backers, ask the writer questions about his or her affiliations, and perhaps call a few other op-ed editors to see if they know anything about the writer. It’s a worthwhile effort, but with increasingly sophisticated business interests and partisans trying to influence the discourse any way they can, it’s often not enough. The press is in a battle with increasingly aggressive ideologues for control of what constitutes objective opinion, and, ultimately, the ideologues have the upper hand.

“There’s no way to know about an Armstrong Williams,” says Richard Gross, op-ed editor of the Baltimore Sun. “You would expect someone who is acting as a journalist to be very up-front and not be being paid by somebody. He’s certainly never going to get an op-ed in the Sun … I’m worried that there are other people, but I don’t know who they are. You just have to get to know the people who you deal with, and learn to trust them. The Williams thing was a shocker — we’re all exposed. You want to put out an honest product, and it makes you wary of everybody.” Even university professors, he says, will submit pieces advocating a particular position without informing an op-ed editor that they are being paid to do so by vested interests.”