History of the Op-Ed

 

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History of the Op-Ed

An op-ed, short for Opinion Editorial and originally known as the writing published "opposite the editorial page" is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author not affiliated with the publication's editorial board.^[1] Op-eds are different from both editorials (opinion pieces submitted by editorial board members) and letters to the editor (opinion pieces submitted by readers).

Beginning in the 1930s, radio began to threaten print journalism, a process that was later accelerated by the rise of television. To combat this, major newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post began including more openly subjective and opinionated journalism, adding more columns and increasing the extent of their op-ed pages.^[2] However, by 21 September 1970,^[3] the "modern" op-ed page was developed under the direction of The New York Times editor John B. Oakes.^[4]

Over the years various connections between op-eds, editors, and funding from interest groups have raised concerns. In 2011, in an open letter to The New York Times, a group of U.S. journalists and academics called for conflict of interest transparency in op-eds.^[5][6] In 2021, The New York Times—the paper credited with developing and naming the modern op-ed page—announced that it was retiring the label, and would instead call submitted opinion pieces "Guest Essays." The move was a result of the transition to online publishing, where there is no concept of physically opposing (adjacent) pages.^[7]  Today, op-ed pieces follow a specific structure designed to meet the needs of online and print publications. 

1.      "Definition of op-ed". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved June 29, 2010.

2.      "'Journalism'". Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2010.[permanent dead link]

3.     Shipley, David (1 February 2004). "And Now a Word From Op-Ed". The New York Times.

4.      "A press scholar explains how the New York Times op-ed page began". Slate. September 27, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2012.

5.     "US journalists launch campaign for 'op-ed transparency'". The Guardian. October 11, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2012.

6.     ^ "Journos call for more transparency at New York Times op-ed page". Columbia Journalism Review. October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2012.

7.     Kingsbury, Kathleen (2021-04-26). "Opinion | Why The New York Times Is Retiring the Term 'Op-Ed'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-26.

 

 

 

The content above has been taken from the article “Op-Ed”.  The direct resources used to create the article (found in the source listing above) were reviewed and approved as credible.  The full article citation is below.

“Op-Ed.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Dec. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op-ed.