The more I read and study Weblogs, the more I believe that they are becoming America's new op-ed pages. Newspapers, in fact, might want to begin relying less on printed byline articles and instead launch ongoing opinion blogs penned by real readers. Some are doing this already, but it would be great to see more newspapers and magazines take this approach.
Right now Wikipedia's article on op-eds is surprisingly somewhat old-school for a new media encyclopedia …
An Op-Ed is a piece of writing expressing an opinion or editorial. Such items are often found in a full newspaper page, containing such articles by columnists, letters to the editor, and other points, rather than news or facts.
The name came from the tradition of placing such material on the page opposite to the editorial page; deriving it from Op-inion and Ed-itorial is a folk etymology.
Most op-ed pieces take the form of an essay or thesis, using arguments to promote a point of view. Such a point of view is usually in line with the newspaper's editorial slant, though dissenting opinions are often given space to promote discussion.
Op-Ed has become a general category to identify opinion from fact regardless of the medium. For example, web pages containing opinion articles are labeled Op-Ed even though the original meaning is not relevant.
I propose the community edit this entry as follows…
An Op-Ed is a piece of writing expressing an opinion or editorial. Such items are often found in print or online. They include articles by columnists, post written by webloggers, letters to the editor, and other points, rather than news or facts.
The name came from the tradition of placing such material on the page opposite to the editorial page; deriving it from Op-inion and Ed-itorial is a folk etymology.
Most op-ed pieces take the form of an essay or thesis, using arguments and hypertext links to promote a point of view. Occasionally, however, they are simply rants. Such a point of view is usually in line with the individual writer’s own bias, although many writers will link to or present dissenting opinions to promote discussion.
Op-Ed has become a general category to identify opinion from fact regardless of the medium. For example, web pages containing opinion articles are labeled Op-Ed even though the original meaning is not relevant. However, right now at least, many blogs may not distinguish opinion from factual content.
