# What sort of op-eds should news outlets publish and not publish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 13, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023 "2020-08-13T20:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/1 "2020-08-13T20:09:56Z")
We have a Pit thread that’s been going on for a while over the NYT’s publication of an [op-ed by senator Tom Cotton](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/opinion/tom-cotton-protests-military.html) - don’t want to derail it, so here is a separate thread: AIUI, the purpose of an op-ed section is to air a wide variety of viewpoints across a political spectrum. This doesn’t mean that the media outlet has to agree with any of the views, of course - the NYT once published an op-ed by [a Taliban leader](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/opinion/taliban-afghanistan-war-haqqani.html), after all - nor does it mean that a media outlet is _obligated_ to publish everything (they must be drowning in hundreds of op-ed pitches all day long and couldn’t run them all even if they wanted to.) But - many people objected to Cotton’s op-ed being run in the NYT on the grounds of…“Cotton is a **bad** person and he is advocating for something **bad**.” Okay, sure, but…isn’t that what an op-ed section does, to air all sorts of viewpoints? After all, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban terrorist leader who wrote the aforementioned op-ed to the NYT, is hardly a shining example of good character or ideals either. Are the critics arguing that the NYT should only run op-eds that most NYT readers would agree with? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/2 "2020-08-13T21:35:08Z")
I was glad to read, for instance, the Cotton op-Ed. I don’t need to read more of what I agree with. I do need to read most of everything I don’t or wouldn’t agree worth. So I know exactly what to be afraid of and to be prepared to work against. So, bring it on. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/3 "2020-08-13T21:37:00Z")
Agreed. Papers should publish works from the entire political spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/4 "2020-08-13T21:49:53Z")
How stupid was Cotton for not submitting it under the pen name Sirajuddin Haqqani? This all could have been avoided! ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/5 "2020-08-13T23:05:31Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Papers should publish works from the entire political spectrum. I agree that publishing op-eds from the entire political spectrum is a good idea, but this should be subject to caveats: - All assertions of fact should be verified and, if necessary, cited. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. They are not entitled to their own facts. - An op-ed containing or constituting hate speech should not be published - The op-ed should be original and any source material should be given as a quote and with attribution - Op-eds should be held to a certain standard of coherence. Incoherent ramblings should not be published. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/6 "2020-08-14T13:12:59Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I agree that publishing op-eds from the entire political spectrum is a good idea, but this should be subject to caveats: > > - All assertions of fact should be verified and, if necessary, cited. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. They are not entitled to their own facts. > > - An op-ed containing or constituting hate speech should not be published > > - The op-ed should be original and any source material should be given as a quote and with attribution > > - Op-eds should be held to a certain standard of coherence. Incoherent ramblings should not be published. This is my view as well. Cotton’s piece didn’t meet the first, and maybe not the last, caveat. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/7 "2020-08-14T13:50:59Z")
Fact-checking is fine. But if you start excluding op-eds over differential interpretations of what constitutes “fact”, you might as well not run them at all. There are viable alternatives - running an opposing viewpoint that refutes claims made in the original op-ed, and publishing letters to the editor that accomplish the same thing. I see this done all the time. Spotlighting the fact that someone is playing fast and loose with reality can have a salutary effect, as opposed to refusing them a platform altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/8 "2020-08-14T15:23:38Z")
Yeah, what peccavi said. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/9 "2020-08-14T19:24:49Z")
Hate speech does not have an objective definition and many people consider anything disagreeing with them hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/10 "2020-08-14T19:31:58Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Hate speech does not have an objective definition and many people consider anything disagreeing with them hate speech. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > **Hate speech** is defined by the [Cambridge Dictionary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Dictionary) as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”. The definition may not be totally objective, but I’m willing to let the paper apply an “[I know it when I see it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it)” standard to keep out anything that most reasonable people would agree is hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/11 "2020-08-14T21:04:47Z")
Thanks @Thudlow_Boink, I couldn’t have said it better. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-op-eds-should-news-outlets-publish-and-not-publish/918023/12 "2020-08-15T17:05:26Z")
Given the Cotton controversy it does not appear reasonable people are in charge.