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Strategic Public Relations
How to Write An Op-Ed
Introduction
There are three excellent reasons for writing and
placing op-eds in your local or national newspaper.
First, an op-ed helps to raise your organization’s
profile and credibility—and yours as its spokesperson.
Second, an op-ed increases public awareness of the cause
or issue that you describe in your piece, mobilizing
your constituents to support your goals. Furthermore,
op-eds serve as an inexpensive way to get your message
out to the public, and are quite often read by decision
makers and opinion leaders.
But newspapers have limited space on their opinion page
for guest op-eds (they give much of the page to the
paper’s regular columnists and nationally syndicated
writers). So, you’ll find placing an opinion piece
extremely difficult—despite the worthiness of your
cause. A positive note: some newspapers set aside space
for opinion columns in other sections, so look at your
local paper for those opportunities too.
Here are some key guidelines to follow when writing an
op-ed:
1. Keep the length of the
op-ed between 500 and 800 words. Go online and look at
word limit guidelines or call the newspaper to find out
the answer.
2. Provide some background information on the issue
without eating up a lot of words. Op-eds are meant to
persuade, not serve as fact sheets. Just as with any
media materials, use active verbs, everyday language (no
jargon!), short sentences, and concise paragraphs.
3. Get a sense of what your paper’s opinion page editor
looks for by carefully reading the op-ed page every day
and identifying trends that will help you shape your
piece. Generally, local papers look for local angles,
and national papers look for new thoughts and
perspectives on current national issues.
4. Make sure the topic is timely and relevant—for
example, tied to something going on locally or
nationally. But that doesn’t mean that the op-ed has to
address issues being discussed only on the newspaper’s
front page or on network news broadcasts. Some of the
most effective op-eds take up issues that are important
but overlooked or forgotten.
5. To draw readers in, make sure the first paragraph is
catchy (although, unlike in a letter to the editor, it
doesn’t have to summarize your entire argument). Use the
last paragraph to bring your argument together—giving it
a tone of “just do it” or “come on, let’s get it
right”—but with words and phrases you haven’t already
used.
6. Identify three or four points that support and defend
your argument and formulate paragraphs around each.
7. Include a short biographical sketch about the author,
including residence and experience relevant to the topic
of the column. This is helpful for the editor.
It is important to share the voice and message of your
organization with the media because they serve as a
vital way for you to communicate to raise awareness,
create behavior change and influence key stakeholders.
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