At first glance the op-ed might seem like an intimidating genre. But as the entries for our 2021...
Our Op-Ed Writing Competition encourages teens to raise their voices and share an opinion on something they are passionate about. As Guest Judge Neel Patel states, op-ed essays “must stake out a position that they work to defend, whether it’s imploring for a specific policy or action, or advocating for a new way of thinking.” Read on to learn more about his work and advice for writing a powerful op-ed!
You’ve written about science and technology for several outlets. Did you always want to be a journalist? How did you break into the industry?
In college, I had plans to go into research in immunology (or a related field), but I’d always had a strong interest in writing. I even pursued a minor in English. After a stint as an undergraduate researcher, however, I realized what I wanted to try to do was blend my interests in science with my skills in writing — and that’s how I stumbled upon journalism as a potential outlet. A year after I finished my undergrad, I moved to NYC to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at New York University, where they have a program specialized in science, health, and environmental reporting. That was where I was able to first get a taste of what real science reporting was like and get the opportunity to start working on actual stories for different outlets.
It can seem counterintuitive that op-eds (which center around an opinion) fit within the category of journalism (which strives to be objective). What are the similarities and differences between a typical news article and an opinion piece?
I think the mission of journalism isn’t to necessarily be objective, but to inform readers about the world around them — and sometimes the best way to do that is to put forth an argument that presents a perspective or new way of thinking. Sometimes, this means an affirmation of certain societal values we all agree on; other times, it means challenging those values or notions. But it’s journalism nonetheless — it’s a vehicle for telling readers more about the world around them. Many stories that are produced under the mission of journalism are already formed with the idea of a hard angle or thesis that is properly pressure-tested and supported. I think of opinion pieces as essentially a step or two beyond that. I think it’s important to remember, however, that the best and most vital opinion pieces will still utilize some tried-and-true practices common to newsrooms, such as fact-checking.
As an editor at the New York Times, you commission guests to write op-eds. How do you choose what sorts of op-eds you want to have written? Are there any topics that particularly lend themselves to the category?
At NYT Opinion, the op-eds we run must have an argument — that’s a critical part of every piece we run. Essays cannot just bear witness to some experience or ongoing event and cannot just be a first-person exploration of something going on in the world. They must stake out a position that they work to defend, whether it’s imploring for a specific policy or action or advocating for a new way of thinking. I think it’s very easy to see topics like politics work as op-eds, but it becomes more difficult sometimes when we think about topics like, say, physics — where there isn’t a rife sense of debate that urgently affects people’s day-to-day lives.
You also edit the op-eds once they’re handed in. What have you learned from reading and editing so many op-eds? Any trends for the most common mistakes?
Similar to my answer above, the most common problem I see in many op-eds is that they don’t pursue some kind of argument. I think a lot of writers often mistake simply writing in first-person for being enough for an op-ed. First-person is helpful in demonstrating your perspective and creating a human-to-human voice that resonates with the reader, but it needs to do something in the piece.
What are you looking for in a winning entry? Any other advice for the writers, especially those who are new to writing op-eds?
I think the best advice I can give for any writers who plan to submit is to think strongly about what kind of argument you plan to make, why you believe you’re the one to write it, and why now is a good time to be considering this.
About the Guest Judge:
Neel Patel is a staff editor at New York Times Opinion, where he commissions and edits science & and health guest essays. Prior to this, he was a senior editor at The Daily Beast, where he led the publication’s innovation section (its hub for science and technology coverage). He also previously worked as a space reporter for MIT Technology Review and Inverse and has written for New York Magazine, The Verge, Wired, Slate, Popular Science, and other outlets. He’s a graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and has worked as a science journalist for over ten years. He lives in Brooklyn.
