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Making You r Case on Editor ialPages
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The Components of Editorial Pages
Editorials
Editor ial cartoons
Letters to the Editor
Colum ns (local or syndicated)
Op-Eds
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First things first
There s no substitute for resear ch.
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Letters to the Editor
W hen should I w rite a
letter to the editor?
Stories
Editor ials and op-eds
Open foru m
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Letters to the Editor
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Letters to the Editor
Length/w ord count
Lead sentence
Yo ur m essage
Focus
Be n ice!
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Letters to the Editor
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Letters to the Editor
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
Som eone interesting w ith expertise
in the field/on the topic who has
som ething to say that is relevant and
timely.
This might be you!
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
Tips for w riting op-eds
W rite a com pelling lead sentence.
Present a clear and com pelling argument
suppo rted by evidence.
Stick to the w ord count.
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
Our man date, as we see it, is straightforwar d: to provide provo cative, thoughtful commen tary that
is reasoned yet opinionated on a wide variety of subjects. The page itself has no ideological bent or
political agenda; we w ant to provide the broadest possible range of opinions from the left, fromthe right and, we hope, from authors whose politics are m uch harder to pigeonhole.
As for o ur su bjects, almost nothing is off-limits. We run articles on dom estic politics, on fore ign
policy, on the great issues and controve rsies of the day in L.A., California and arou nd the wor ld.
We also run perso nal essays and humo r pieces, as well as articles on science and spor ts and
movies and fam ily life. The only unifying characteristic (we hope) is that all our pieces have an
idea behind them an d a point of view, and that they all stimulate some k ind of intellectual
engagemen t with the subject.
We've run pieces on whether fish feel pain, on what it's like to be a baseball fan grow ing up in
Hong Kong, on w hether to engage or ignore North Korea, on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's trip to
Asia, on the banning of transfats, on the agenda of the ne w L.A. schools super intendent, on sur fing
in Munich, on the legacy of U.N. leader Kofi Ann an, on sever al upcoming ballot initiatives and on
how Gov. Arno ld Schwarzene gger's childhood helped shape his approach to politics.
Our authors include people who have never (or r arely) written a w ord for publication. Others are
better kno wn, and they include novelists, historians, policymakers, hum orists and activists. All
are paid a mode st fee for their contributions.
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Op-Eds/Guest Editorials
Subm issions arrive in two ways: Either w e solicit them or they're sent to us by authors "over the
transom" i.e., unasked. In any given w eek, we receive 300 to 500 unsolicited submissions, most
by e-mail. The vast majority do n ot make it onto the page (an d, although we try to decline thempolitely, we ar e too overwh elmed to respon d personally to every inquiry). In the end, we publish
about 24 pieces each we ek on the Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion pages.
Our pages the daily Op-Ed page and the Current section are put together on the second floor
of the L.A. Times bu ilding by several full-time assigning editors as w ell as research ers, copy
editors and an art director.
People often want to know w hether we see k balance on the page. The answer , as best I can give it,
is this: We want a page that is politically balanced over time not leaning too heavily to the left or
the right but we don 't monitor it day to day, or count Democr ats versus Republicans. Similarly,
we seek diversity of thought and diversity of contributor s we wan t provocative ideas from
people of all races, genders, religions, etc. but again, we don't try to balance the number of
women to men on eve ry single page.
Our job providing provocative, readable and substantive essays seven days a week is
challenging, but it's always engaging, inspiring and, yes, fun . And if we do it right, reading the
pages should also be all of those things challenging, engaging, inspiring and fun .
-- N i c k G o ld b e r g , d e p u t y e d i t o r i a l p a g e e d i t o r , L o s A n g e l e s T i m e s
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Editorials
Editor ial Mem oran da
Editor ial Board Meetings
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Editorials
Tips for w riting an editor ial
memorandum
Presen t a com pelling argum ent suppor ted by
evidence (including data thats n ot you rs)
State the issue, explain w hy it m atters, offer asumm ary of your argum ent, provide support.
No m ore than two pages (one if possible)
Contact inform ation
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Editorials
Setting up editor ial board m eetings
Send a letter/em ail requesting a m eeting
Send and edit m emo
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Editorials
Planning your m eeting
Choose 3 -4 people w ho can pr esent different
perspectives
Plan your presen tations and choose your ro les
PracticeAnticipate qu estions
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Editorials
At the m eeting
Arr ive early
Keep it brief
Bring your materials
Expect a conver sation
Follow u p
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Columnists
Clarence Page
David Br oder
Maureen Dowd
Conn ie Schultz
Ana Veciana Suarez
Casey W oods
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Columnists
Reaching out
Pitching
Editorial m emo randa
Email message
Phone follow up
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Blogs!
Newspaper bloggers
Your o w n blog
Relevant blogs
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Blogs!
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The Health Care BlogEverything you always wanted to know about the Health Care system. But were afraid to ask.
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Toot your own horn
If you place a letter o r o ped,
succeed in getting an editor ial or
having a colum nist or blogger
w rite abou t the issue you ve
pitched, let people know !
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If you want to keep it going
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Conduct outreach several tim es
dur ing the year
Mix it up
Find a variety of spokespeople Use a variety of media
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