Summary: Legacy media often misinterpret the role of op-ed writers by focusing too much on opinion instead of the analysis readers crave. This results in short, shallow pieces that limit the potential for deeper insights. To stay relevant, these publications should allow their writers to provide more in-depth analysis, similar to successful platforms like Substack.
editors subtract more value than they add to the op-ed writing process, by preventing op-ed writers from developing their own distinctive voice, their own loyal audience, and their own organizational skills. (View Highlight)
news readers want analysis. They don’t want to just read the reporting from the Associated Press or some investigative journalists and then have to put it all together and decide what it all means. They want writers to explain those facts, to identify the salient implications, to make predictions, and to recommend courses of action. (View Highlight)
As people’s information diet has become bigger and more complex, they’re in desperate need of people to make sense of it all. (View Highlight)
a lot of people want to read a few in-depth analyses instead of a ton of short punchy polemics. (View Highlight)