What is a memorable op-ed you have read?

February 21, 2014 6:08 PM

One of the duties at my new job is writing op-eds in the name of local leaders in support of a very popular social issue of our time. I've worked all kinds of writing gigs — newspaper reporting, PR, social media, essays, etc., etc. — but I only have a little experience writing op-eds. What tips do you have for me? Reading a bunch of op-eds is definitely my ticket to understanding how to do this well. So, do you have favorite op-eds you recommend?
posted by rabu to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

the most reprinted op-ed in the history of american journalism, francis church in the new york sun over 100 years ago, "yes virginia, there is a santa claus."
posted by bruce at 6:31 PM on February 21, 2014

This op-ed by former Miami police chief John Timoney was one of my favorites from 2012. Irrespective of the politics, it's good advocacy. I thought the same of Vladimir Putin's (or whoever wrote it) last year.

What tips do you have for me?

Speak in facts, not characterizations. Use fewer adjectives and become proficient with nouns and verbs.
posted by cribcage at 6:43 PM on February 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Tell stories. The only pieces from op-eds I still remember are the stories.
posted by salvia at 10:28 PM on February 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Leonard Pitts' 100 death penalty mistakes and counting (April 2002) helped change my mind on the issue as a high school student
posted by needsnoprosecutor at 8:09 AM on February 22, 2014

A very memorable one was very recent. A day after his notorious on-video "rant" at the end of the NFC title game, Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks wrote a piece which gave his side of the event and described the unsportsmanlike behavior of Michael Crabtree. I was one whose opinion about him was turned around by it.
posted by yclipse at 1:55 PM on February 22, 2014