An editorial is an opinion piece that appears in a newspaper or magazine. The New York Times, for example, has an op-ed page where writers can express their views on controversial topics. Writing an editorial can help you gain a wider audience and share your viewpoints outside your immediate network of friends and family. But before you write your op-ed, it’s important to understand the genre and what makes a good one.
Whether they’re based on current events or long-standing issues, editorials aim to stimulate thinking and scientific discourse. As such, they’re somewhat similar to the ‘Results and Discussion’ section of a research paper in their analytical approach to the evidence, but with the crucial difference that they must necessarily also express an opinion.
Some editorials are designed to interpret and frame news reporting, often with references to reported stories in the same issue of the journal. Others are designed to praise a person, institution or work of art. Still others are designed to be critical of a person, policy or institution.
Editorials are most effective when they focus on a single clear slightly challenging or controversial argument. They can also be effective when they acknowledge counter-arguments, but it’s a mistake to spend much of an editorial on refuting them. Instead, use counter-arguments to strengthen your own argument. In the end, a good editorial will be personal and compelling. Gray says that a good editorial should have “a quinoa effect”—love it or loathe it, readers will want to read it.