Effective Strategies for Writing an Impactful Op-Ed Piece

How to Write an Op-Ed Media Training

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3 Gerry Fairbrother, PhD President, Fairbrother Policy Studies, LLC Editor/Author of an op ed series on Food/Hunger gerry.fairbrother1@gmail.com

4 What is an op ed .. And why are they important An op ed short for opinion editorial is: A piece in the editorial section of the newspaper that o Usually that presents a problem o Advocates for a solution Important because o Can persuade/convince your audience of importance of your topic o Can be a catalyst for a letter/call to decisionmakers

5 My story Is that I HAD a story o I wanted to tell Several stories, in fact .. o About immigration policies o About hunger o About poverty And so I started writing and submitting o For me, it was just that simple. But it began with the passion I now have a series on Food and Hunger in my local paper o And have published on the other topics

6 How did I get started with the series? Made an appointment with the editor, walked in, and pitched the series Had with me a list of potential articles for the series o Just titles/topics o Just to show her the direction for the series And copies of articles she had already published

7 Also had with me And copies of prior articles already published o On the Border: Building homes a mission of love , September 3, 2016 o From Houston: Thank you Santa Fe , September 9, 2017 o On the Border: Building more than a house , June 17, 2017 o Getting RESULTS to end Poverty and Hunger , September 17, 2017 o SNAP and Food Banks: An important partnership , June 24, 2018

8 How did I get started? Editor s Response She said Ok, she would try this series out Agreement was: o She would publish every 4 or 6 weeks, or when she had the space o She wanted more authors than just me on op eds o She suggested that I write for them for other people if problems.. Initially, this was a disappointment, but o In reality, it was a gift Gave me an opportunity to meet other people and bring in other thoughts o Often, I wrote with the other people and was second author o Or heard the points and put together the article

9 What do editors look for Depends but MY editor wants pieces to be Consistent with rules o Word count o Style Accurate o with facts o with story May seem just procedural, but these things cause rejection

10 Re-emphasing - These things may seem procedural, but Can cause rejection Lets talk about how pieces are rejected o My editor just drops them o There is no notification to authors that they are not going to publish In fact, there is no notification o that pieces ARE going to be published o or when Pieces just appear . Or they don t

11 Steps in writing an op ed Read up on your topic and know what you want to say Know what your paper wants -- word count, style, how often Block out sections (introduction, story, data, call to action whatever) Find a story that illustrates the point Give the call for action

12 Read up on your topic and know what you want to say Some writers say to just write at this stage Put ideas out, in no particular order But . o Need to include a citation for the thoughts EVEN at this stage o When you finalize your piece, you don t want to scramble for these

13 Check and see if pictures can be included I try to include a picture relating to the topic o Sometimes the editor includes these, sometimes not And I include a picture of myself o Again, sometimes this goes in, sometimes not o Usually it goes in

14 This is the picture that appeared in the paper

15 Know what your paper wants in terms of Style and word count o Papers vary, but word count is usually around 650 words o It is 600 for my paper o For additional reference on style, Gerry uses the Associated Press Stylebook: https://www.apstylebook.com In terms of a story o First person stories are powerful, can bring home issues for reader But there are requirements .. o My editor wants story to be from a real person not a composite o And wants a name first AND LAST

16 The story can be tricky many people do not want their names to be used, SO I go over with my storyteller what I want to say, and see how they want to be identified o Then identify the person that way in the op ed But my editor wants full names, and she does NOT want composites o This is part of being accurate and honest for her So, I tell my editor who the storyteller is first and last name --in the cover email, but use agreed-upon name in the op ed o I also often have storytellers sign a permission for me to use their story o And I send the write-up of the story to them before it goes out

17 Call to Action Call to Action -- examples o Write to your congresspeople and urge them to support o Call the governor and ask him/her to sign Comes last in the piece, usually, but I often write it first o Just to know where I want the piece to land

18 My formula how to generate interest Pick a good title o Hunger is skyrocketing o The time is NOW to address hunger State the problem and if possible, use a hook o Figures just released from the Dept of Health show dramatic increase in hunger in the last . o Freezing weather straining capacity of the city s homeless shelters Tell a personal story o Delores is a young mother, trying as best she can to feed her family with her minimum wage salary

19 My formula continued Present facts relating to the problem and story o In this state there are xxx,xxx women just like Delores and yyy,yyy food insecure children which is just another name for hungry o statistics are stories with the tears wiped away Give policy you want to change o SNAP is the first-line program to address hunger, but o Its BENEFITS ARE TOO LOW Call to action o Tell your congresspeople to support an increase in SNAP

20 Then, after you have written Proofread carefully Read aloud to see about emphasis This is hard, but will help make you a better writer

21 QUESTIONS ?? COMMENTS ??

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