op-ed writing and pitching for college students
TRANSCRIPT
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Write and pitch powerful op-eds2016.01.14
Seattle UniversitySharon Pian Chan
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NEWS VS. OP-ED
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News Op-ed
Report both sides, write a balanced story.
Report both sides, develop a position
Topic benefits from neutral observer
Topic benefits from your perspective
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WHAT IS AN OP-ED?
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¡ Editorial: The position of the newspaper, always written bythe editorial board. No byline. There is no such thing as a “guest editorial.”
¡ Staff or syndicated column: Opinion pieces written by staff or syndicated writers. Byline will say “staff column” or “syndicated column”
¡ Op-ed or Guest Column: Opinion pieces written by members of the community. Byline may say “Special to” or “Guest columnist.”
¡ Letters to the editor: Responses to previously published news or opinion articles
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BY ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS……and daughter of a cancer victim
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BY TAYLOR SWIFT……musician and businesswoman
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AN OP-ED IS…A knowledgeable argument
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AN OP-ED IS NOT…¡ Community news
¡ A progress report
¡ A news release
¡ A rant
¡ A response to a previously published article
¡ A fundraising letter
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YOU ARE ALREADY AN EXPERT
¡You are uniquely authorized to write a guest column about something
¡Example: Do you wait tables? You have a unique opinion about it
¡What was Danielle’s expertise?
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OP-ED IDEAS
¡News event relates to area of your expertise, experience
¡Secondary areas of expertise: your neighborhood, your background, your family life, your PT job
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I keep seeing the same thing. Two people sit down for dinner. They exchange pleasantries, order some drinks and pick their entrees. Then … silence.
Shoshana Wineburg, “Smartphones turn dinner parties into strangers at a table”
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MY face broke out today. Not since the hormonal roller-coaster ride of high school have so many angry red marks marred my skin. I’m not surprised, though.
Raffi Wineburg, “Millennials are not biology lab frogs –stop dissecting us”
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Is money and convenience more important than the long-term sustainability of the world we live in? I think not.
Nicole Gaddie guest colum, “Why UW, Seattle U. should divest from fossil-fuel companies”
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Our time in Ethiopia has given us a perspective on being Americans with disabilities in a developing country, where the rights we take for granted don’t exist.
Shandra Benito, Terhas Clark, “Why the U.S. needs to join the U.N. on disability rights”
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WRITING AN OP-ED
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4 QUESTIONS
1. What are you arguing for?
2. Why do people need to read about it right now?
3. What is your unique perspective/authority on it?
4. What change do you want to see?
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OP-ED STRUCTURE
¡ Short lede, ~100 words
¡ Main argument
¡ Research supporting argument
¡ Propose change
¡ Repeat main argument
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ADVICE ON OP-ED WRITING
¡Seattle Times op-ed guidelines: http://seati.ms/opedguide
¡Writing tips from Alex Lo, columnist for the South China Morning Post: http://bit.ly/n3conoped
¡Other submission guidelines: Just Google it
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Avoid bad writingWashington Post Opinion’s list of 200 journalism cliches
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2014/02/27/the-outlook-list-of-things-we-do-not-say/
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Bad pitches from college students¡ The Greek system is not all bad. My
fraternity/sorority is doing a charity event.
¡ My political analysis of Syria.
¡ Why your Seattle Times story on XXX topic was terrible
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PITCHING AN OP-ED
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WHO PUBLISHES OP-EDShttp://www.ccmc.org/sites/default/files/Top100op-eds.pdf
Easier•Medium•Seattle Globalist
Harder
• Geekwire• Puget Sound Business Journal• National websites: Huffington Post
Harder• Seattle Times• National newspapers
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PITCHING: STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
¡ Read the submission guidelines and follow them
¡ Have an opinion and state it forcefully
¡ Be pleasantly persistent
¡ Explain why you are the best person to write this, in 200 words or fewer
¡ Include a headshot > 200 KB
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MAKE AN OP-ED EDITOR HAPPY¡ Don’t submit to multiple publications at once
¡ Don’t demand to hear back the same day
¡ Don’t expect a commitment to publish on spec
¡ Don’t expect multiple rounds of editing and multiple last-minute changes
¡ Don’t call to double check whether we received it
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REPEAT:You don’t have to be Taylor Swift
….But it doesn’t hurt? Think about how to frame yourself to maximize your relevance and the likelihood of getting exposure
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Email excerpt from op-ed writer Arsalan Iftikhar @TheMuslimGuy:
SOCIAL MEDIA COUNTS
Please let me know when the article goes live and I will send out to my 30,000+ Facebook/Twitter followers…Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity...Hope to do it again soon J
Yours,Arsalan
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NO DOES NOT MEAN NEVER.
NO MEANS NOT RIGHT NOW.
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SCREW IT. PUBLISH IT YOURSELF.
Recommended reading: “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon
http://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/
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QUESTIONS?
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THANK YOU!@[email protected](206) 464-2958
Pitch Seattle Times 1st person essays to:Caitlin Moran [email protected] editor