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Write an Op-Ed
During your CACH rotation you are required to write an Op-Ed and if you are brave we may submit it to the Oregonian. Don’t freak out! We are here to help. Below you will find detailed instructions for writing Op-Eds
The opinion pages are often the best read section of any newspaper, after the front page. Among their most dedicated readers are the movers and shakers in your community- the government and corporate leaders and non-profit institutions. Writing an op-ed is among the most effective ways for a non-professional writer to be heard and try to effect change within their communities.
An “op-ed” gets its name from the fact that it usually appears on the page opposite from the publication’s editorial page (OPposite the EDitorials on the page). Quite simply, an op-ed is a focused opinion piece that aims to stir the reader’s emotions while presenting facts that support the author’s point of view. It is an extremely effective way to get information out there as an advocate for your patients/community by informing the changemakers. You will need to write an op-ed, 500-700 words about your area of concentration- if you are brave, we may submit it to the Oregonian or to an on-line resource (Blog, Huffington Post etc).
Be forewarned: Op-eds are not for the timid. To write an effective op-ed, you must be willing to seize an issue and to take a strong stand. This is what separates experts from novices. You need to be prepared to give a firm and passionate opinion, and thus risk creating opponents to your ideas.
. The point of this exercise is not to have you write the perfect piece or submit something. The point is for you to wrestle with a topic, and to attempt to communicate with general readers in a way that will inform, persuade and even move them. We have an O-CAT editorial board (Ben, Melissa Weddel, Ellen Stevenson and Dave Froelich) that will read your piece and give you some constructive feedback. DO NOT STRESS! Have fun with this- it is a rare chance to learn skills crucial to advocacy in a completely safe environment.
How to Get Started:
In general, editors are looking for pieces that are well written, timely and provocative—all the hallmarks of any good nonfiction writing. Expertise is only the beginning- it has to be married with an effective writing style. A good op-ed or letter to the editor is concise, it packs a punch (emotional and/or intellectual). It employs use of concrete evidence-based facts brought to life with vivid images, analogies and arguments Most editors see this as a section for advocates to sell their passion, as a mechanism to peddle controversy and stir the pot. Remember, they need to sell papers- they want the opinion pages to stimulate community discussion and drive public debate. They want people to say "Wow! Did you see that op-ed (or letter to the editor) today?"
Timing is key- Just because you care about an issue, does not make it newsworthy. Think “Carpe diem”- seize the opportunity when it presents itself, and strike while the iron is hot. If the issue or a related subject has been in the news lately, or if you are responding to a particular article, there can be an urgency to the issue, and it will increase your chances of getting in. Often, in issues around child advocacy, the action may be bubbling well below the public radar and we can use our opinion piece to bring it to the fore to stimulate some discussion. Sometimes an op-ed helps to break the news itself. Occasionally if your op-ed does not break new ground, you may be able to find something current to tie it to: a holiday, anniversary, election, upcoming conference, report, a vote in Congress, or pending action by local or state government.
An op-ed is generally 500-750 words-may seem like a lot staring at a blank screen, but it is not, we promise (this paper you are reading now is almost 3500 words just for comparison sake). Your piece must unfold quickly. Focus on one issue or idea, briefly express your opinion in your opening paragraph, and be clear and confirmed in your viewpoint. The following paragraphs should back your viewpoint with factual, researched, or first-hand information. A good op-ed is not just an opinion; it consists of fact put into well-informed context.
You want to be timely and provocative--but not outrageous. Personal, conversational, and humorous (when appropriate) writing is important to readability, and to capturing the reader’s attention, but you do not want to talk down to them. Remember, we work in a world filled with our own vocabulary and tons of jargon. That does not play well to the masses. Make sure that you educate without preaching. Near the end, clearly restate your position and issue a call to action. If you are discussing a problem, then offer a solution or a better approach; this takes the reader beyond mere criticism.
Try to include a catchy title for your op-ed that emphasizes your central message. This will help get the editor’s attention and enable them to grasp the idea quickly, and help sell the piece. (However, be prepared for the paper to write its own headline; they will rarely use the writer’s title no matter how good it is. That’s just the way it’s done).
Step 1: Identify a significant problem. Within the context of your issue, search for a problem that clearly threatens the general public or at least some large segment of that public. Focus, focus, focus. Clearly identify the problem, the audience it affects and how you might go about solving it. We will work on this during the first week of your CACH rotation.
Step 2: Become an expert. Don’t try to fake it. You’ll get caught and lose credibility with the media and the public. Read the literature and collate the facts. Make certain you have the knowledge, the background and the supporting data to qualify as an expert on this issue.
Step 3: Make a bold statement. Open your op-ed by making a bold statement that forces the reader to read on. This is no time to ease into your article. Punch the reader in the face, then explain why you did it. The opening statement is everything. It will dictate the headline. It will determine the focus of your article. It will dictate the evidence you offer to support your statement. Spend a lot of time honing your first paragraph. Ask yourself, “If I read this paragraph for the first time right now, could I resist the urge to continue reading this article?”
Step 4: Defend your statement. Your op-ed will total between 500 and 700 words. Your opening statement will take up about 25 words. Your conclusion will take up another 100 or so. The rest will be devoted to defending your opening statement. Use facts and statistics, but only those that apply directly to your statement. Don’t go off on tangents. You don’t have space for that. Stay very, very, very focused. Introduce quotes from third parties. These would include documents, studies, surveys, public statements, white papers, books, articles and the like. And don’t forget emotion. Facts provide the reasons to agree with the statement, but emotion provides the impetus to take action. No emotion, no action. That’s just how the human mind works.
Step 5: Propose a solution. Wrap up your story by proposing at least one clear and bold solution to the problem you have identified. The proposal is what will brand you as an expert. If you sidestep proposing a solution you lose your audience.
Let’s talk a moment about format:
Use a common typeface, like Arial or Times, in 10 to 12 point type. Double space.
Write in short sentences.
Speak in a bold active voice that leans upon nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs.
Avoid jargon.
Put your name, address and phone number at the top of the page.
Suggest a headline based upon your lead paragraph.
Include a paragraph at the end that explains your qualifications.
Place a “###” at the bottom of the last page to indicate the end.
Enclose a brief cover letter that summarizes the op-ed and your expertise.
Letters to the editor are far briefer: usually 50-150 words after editing. Thus, you need to make a single strong point, and leave it at that. Letters to the editor usually address a subject already known to the reader—one reason they can be shorter, since explanation and development of facts is generally left out. You might think of it as the beginning and end of an op-ed; there is no space for the stuff in between. But all the same rules of good writing apply. As with an op-ed, supply a good title.
Get Other Eyes and Brains to Vet Your Work!
Even the greatest writers have editors. Share your work with people you trust to help you with both the content and the structure of what you have written. You often get to the point where you have seen it too much to be able to detect the flaws. Give the piece to colleagues for their common-sense reaction. You can also contact your institution’s news media staff; they are trained writers, and helping out with such pieces is part of the job. They can offer valuable suggestions and maybe some rewriting and some key editorial advice, especially around grammar, syntax etc.
Beyond this, in most workplaces, there is no formal requirement that you submit a piece to managers, or anyone else, for review; everyone in a scientific or academic institution is free to express an opinion. In most forums, it is understood that by publishing a piece, you are speaking for yourself—not the institution. That said, your title and workplace will almost certainly be listed near your byline; so in that sense, you do indirectly represent the honor and credibility of your institution. It is definitely best to at least give colleagues or media staff a heads-up that you are writing something. This allows you to get valuable feedback on things you may not have thought of: for instance, special internal sensitivity on a topic, or the risk of exhibiting a perceived conflict of interest. In general, a well-stated opinion raises the visibility of your institution--and this is rarely viewed as bad.
How to Submit
Nowadays, letters or op-eds should almost always be submitted by email. If you happen to know the opinion editor at a certain newspaper, or a friend who knows that editor, that rarely hurts; send it directly to him or her. Otherwise, go to the paper’s web site and find how to submit the piece. The Oregonian’s is here:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Find how to submit your piece to them. It may not be as easy as you think.
Include a brief bio, along with your phone number, email, and mailing address at the bottom. For an op-ed, use a succinct cover letter to establish why you are qualified to write this piece. Explain (very briefly!) why the issue is important and why readers would care.
In general, you should submit to one publication at a time. However, editors can take up to 10 days to accept or reject. If your piece is very timely, it is acceptable to submit to several places at once, but you should let each editor know you are doing so. But do try to avoid submitting the same op-ed to two papers in the same geographical or readership market. The question of simultaneous submissions gets a little more complicated if you are targeting national-market publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or USA Today. If you are shooting for the top, then you should go to one at a time. Quite often, you will not be notified if your op-ed is rejected (at last notice, the official New York Times policy was that you could consider yourself rejected if you didn’t’ hear in seven days). But, it is also generally acceptable to give a time limit in your cover letter, after which you will shop it to another paper.
If your op-ed does not get accepted, but still concerns a topic of current concern, and you don’t want to try another venue, it is a good idea to shorten it and resubmit it as a letter to the editor. You get less space—but it’s still high visibility. In the digital age, there are a ton of blogs and other electronic venues that may take your piece- you may even design it for those outlets form the start. Have a sense of where you might want to submit it before you start, however, as the rules and requirements can be vastly different.
2 examples of published op-eds follow to serve as examples. Both are about SCHIP and access to pediatric health care.
Op Ed Example:
Health reform for Louisiana's children: More of the sweet and less of the bitter -- a guest column by Dr. Judith Palfrey, M.D.
By Contributing Op-Ed columnist
November 19, 2009, 2:19PM
Louisiana is my family's home. During my childhood and adolescence, my parents told me countless stories of their work in New Orleans. My father, Maurice Sullivan, was a doctor who had done his college at Loyola and his medical school at Tulane. During his residency at Charity Hospital, he met my mother, Beatrice Adams, a Newcomb graduate and social worker. The stories were always bitter-sweet.
Terrible and compelling needs, but willing and able helpers who would do their best for patients. I hear their voices now as we confront the stunning health problems and the hoped for health solutions of our time.
I am now a pediatrician, a parent and a grandparent. Day-to-day, I see how our families struggle and I cringe knowing that the United States does such a poor job for our children. We rank lowest on child health and safety among the developed nations and 30th in infant mortality. But we have a chance to improve.
The United States House of Representatives made history by voting to pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act, otherwise known as HR 3962. This bill is far from perfect, but goes a long way toward real reform by providing nearly universal insurance coverage to children, making health care more affordable for families, putting steps in place to be sure that children have more comprehensive benefits and preventive services in new health care plans, and by devoting new resources to the pediatric workforce.
As the health care reform debate moves into the Senate, all indications point to an uphill climb, full of compromises and late-night deals. Pediatricians, parents and grandparents all need to be watching and keeping children and adolescents in the picture so that they do not lose out and end up with more that is bitter and less that is sweet in all the deals. That would indeed be a tragedy. Our children -- both in Louisiana and across the United States -- are counting on us. The status quo is simply not an option for children in Louisiana -- one third of adolescents are overweight and obese, 12 percent of children under the age of 18 are uninsured, and Louisiana ties with Mississippi for the second highest infant mortality rate in the nation.
Louisiana can turn these statistics around and ensure a better future for the children growing up here. There is the political will and the wonderful human resources and talent in the state. The two senators from Louisiana will soon have the opportunity to give the health care providers the tools they need to improve child and adolescent health in the state. Majority Leader Harry Reid is currently working on blending the two Senate bills--one from the Finance Committee and one from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. There are provisions from both bills that would improve children's health, like well-child services and age-appropriate benefits for children to make sure they are getting the treatment and support they need to stay healthy. The HELP bill also offers loan pay-backs for anyone who pursues full-time work in pediatric subspecialty fields, which means we'll have more doctors to treat some of the sickest kids. These provisions are good for children in Louisiana and across the country, and we must ensure that they remain in the final legislation.
As the Senate takes up their debate, children have the most at stake. We must do right by them. Children cannot advocate for their own health needs; they can't write letters to their local newspapers, meet with their elected officials or even understand the nuances of legislation that will impact them the most.
As we move forward debating health reform, now is not the time to get bogged down in additional partisan bickering or inter-party warfare. We need to remember that without health reform, the most vulnerable in our society--our children and youth--will continue to suffer. The future stability of the United States of America depends directly on the health of our children.
Louisiana can be a strong leader in doing what is right for our country and for our children. Children have suffered the bitter for too long. It is now time to make life a lot sweeter for them.
Judith Palfrey, M.D., is president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She can be reached at jspalfrey@aap.net
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Legislature must find money for Medicaid match
By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN 2/17/09 8:48 AM
Last summer, the Legislature and Gov. Bill Richardson made a promise to our children that within a few years every child would have health coverage.
It is a worthy goal, and not that difficult to achieve if we just have the political will. Both made a down payment of $20 million toward that goal during the special session of the Legislature in August 2008, but last week they took back that $20 million because state revenues have dropped.
While that move may have been necessary, it doesn’t mean the promise should be broken.
For too long we have failed to make our kids’ health a priority. Investing in their healthy development pays exceptional dividends.
The early diagnosis and treatment of developmental issues, prevention of illness, and promotion of healthy lifestyles and environments all lead to healthier children and improved school performance.
President Obama recently signed the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which will now cover some 4 million more children. He has also signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which will significantly help working mothers provide for their children.
These two bills demonstrate that children are a high priority for the president. Children are also a high priority for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, and the rest of our congressional delegation, who worked to get New Mexico the fourth largest increase in S-CHIP funds of any state.
The federal government has made children’s health a front-burner issue, and backed up their will with an unbeatable incentive: For every dollar New Mexico invests, they’ll match it with three to four dollars.
That’s like getting a 75 to 80 percent discount on a child’s health insurance policy. Where else can you get a return like that? And this is no “government-run” health system. The health care it buys is purchased through and delivered by the private market.
Insuring our children is not just good for them, it’s good for our economy. All of the health care jobs supported by Medicaid and S-CHIP are in the private market, they tend to pay better than average jobs, include decent benefits and really help the rural and poorer areas of the state that need them most.
Last week, Congress passed the $787 billion federal recovery package. One provision is to increase the Medicaid federal matching rate. One reason the president and congressional leaders chose Medicaid as the vehicle for state fiscal relief is because it is consistent with their goal of wanting to increase health care coverage.
It also provides great economic stimulus.
The new S-CHIP bill and increased Medicaid money to states are a down payment on health care reform. Combined, the two programs will bring more than $600 million to New Mexico over the next couple of years.
In order for New Mexico to benefit from these federal fiscal relief dollars, we have to come up with the match — the 20 to 25 percent of our share.
Given all that’s at stake for our children’s health and the health of our state’s economy, it would seem a no-brainer that we should make that investment, even if it means finding new revenue sources. The return on investment is too great to pass up.
But funding that investment will take political will.
New Mexico has cut taxes by $1 billion in the past six years. Just one-twentieth of that $1 billion would have insured every single child in the state. New Mexico could rise from almost last in the nation to first in health care coverage for children with this investment.
Our congressional delegation has done a stellar job for our kids and working families in maximizing federal health care funding for New Mexico. S-CHIP and Medicaid don’t just make our children healthier, they are the vehicles for our state’s fiscal health as well.
Tell your legislators and the governor not to let the air out of the tires just when this economic driver is finally starting to move. Tell them to keep their promise to our children and make the most of this exceptional time to move New Mexico’s health forward.
Dr. Benjamin Hoffman is vice president of the New Mexico Pediatric Society.
681 words