Talk:Op-ed

What does op-ed really stand for?

I had always been under the impression that op/ed stood for opinion/editorial. I am happy to be shown the error of my ways with a reliable source, but otherwise I think this article needs to say the origins of the term are not established.

The op/ed pages can refer to the two pages which often encompass letters, the leading article or editorial, and opinion pieces.

I will make this change if no-one replies to this within a couple of weeks.

Nomenklatura44 (talk) 06:27, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

This article describes the origins of the op-ed pages in the US, but does not give any citations or etymology of the word itself. Tourdeforceofnature (talk) 00:06, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

A simple etymology check in Merriam-Webster (where people take etymology seriously) confirms that Op-ed is indeed short for "Opposite editorial." [1]. Please don't make this entry inaccurate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.191.145.197 (talk) 17:18, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

As I said, happy to be proved wrong if a good citation could be shown. Checking in the OED (where they take etymology probably even more seriously than Merriam-Webster) they have a citation from 1931. I have removed the dispute tag.

Op-Ed

Chiefly N. Amer. A. n. The page of a newspaper facing the editorial page, typically devoted to personal comment and feature articles.

op- (in OPPOSITE adj.) + ed- (in EDITORIAL n.).

1926 N.Y. World Mag. May 5 1/1 ‘Opposite editorial’ page in The World has become one of the great book markets in the city. 1931 J. W. BARRETT World, Flesh, & Messrs. Pulitzer iv. 82 Swope developed..the idea of a distinctive ‘opposite editorial page’ consisting of two ‘columnists’, one book reviewer and the daily output of the dramatic critic. We called this the ‘op-ed’ for short.

03:39, 7 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nomenklatura44 (talk • contribs)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an op-ed as "an essay in a newspaper or magazine that gives the opinion of the writer and that is written by someone who is not employed by the newspaper or magazine." Senator2029 “Talk” 12:43, 2 March 2019 (UTC)

Controversial op-ed's and conflicts of interest

Part of text removed from the main page by User_talk:Dia^. See here. Text reedited in a more general way to avoid Recentism and/or NPOV.

Because the readers of the media cannot be expected to know about the connections between op-eds editors and the industries or lobby groups sometimes funding some of them, the absence of clear declaration of conflict of interest in op-eds is increasingly recognized as a concern in American journalism.

Disclosing financial conflicts of interest that their op-ed contributors could have may help main media outlets to clarify the situation and to redefine journalism standards.

Dia^, What do you think now? Even inspired by the actuality, I think that the concern remains in a general way. The readers have to look critically to the information and they have the right to know from where it comes. Regards, Shinkolobwe (talk) 17:13, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Hallo Shinkolobwe, now it's definitely much better but I've still some reserves. Are in US the ties between newspapers and companies/politicians/interest groups always disclosed? IMHO if that is the case than that should be in the article (something along the lines of "since in US so&so...op-ends are the only part of the press that escape the regulation" - I leave the wording at you, mine is just an example), when not than a simple sentence informing that some people are campaigning to disclose at least the ties in the op-ends should suffice. But still from the citation given, it seems that the issue is especially against that single person. What do you think? --Dia^ (talk) 18:24, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Hallo Dia^, thank you for your reaction. I have to confess that I am not a specialist of the regulations dealing with the US press, just an observer from the far Europe. This conflict of interest problem in the American press was brought to my attention with the specific case to which the reference is pointing out. In Europe, we are much less acquainted with thinktanks and lobbying groups than in the US. If possible, I will try to find a more general reference to give the framework of the problem, not focusing on a case in particular. I think also that part of the concern dealt probably also with the editorial line of The New York Times. Regards, Shinkolobwe (talk) 19:46, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

I think I have found something better with two references from the Guardian and another web site:
"A concern about how to clearly disclose the ties in the op-ends arises because the readers of the media cannot be expected to know all about the possible connections between op-eds editors and interest groups funding some of them. In a letter to The New York Times, the lack of a clear declaration of conflict of interest in op-eds was criticized by a group of US journalists campaigning for more 'op-ed transparency'."
Shinkolobwe (talk) 21:29, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Backronym

On 18 October 2020 the words Template:Tq were added by Arlo Barnes. The edit summary didn't mention a source and the sources that I have looked at -- Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Britannica -- don't say it. Has anybody ever heard of this backronym explanation, and if so what is the source? Peter Gulutzan (talk) 17:27, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

I had a source at the time, but since I failed to include it in a <ref> I've lost track of what it was. Safest would be to revert until such time as one is found. [edit: done] Arlo James Barnes 17:37, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Digital Writing

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