Op-eds are an effective way to communicate your opinion about a timely issue. Op-eds are typically 500-600 words in length, though it is important to check with the individual publication for length requirements (most have guidelines listed on their websites).
It is important that your op-ed is both timely and relevant to your community. For example, you could write about an issue you care about using the overarching frame of COVID-19. How has the pandemic made it even more urgent to address this issue? Or, how has the pandemic brought certain truths to light about how children of different backgrounds are impacted?
Before starting your draft, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this topic especially relevant to my state or community? Are there specific examples from your community that bring this issue to light? Any state data or statistics?
- Do I have patient stories that can humanize this issue for readers? How can I illustrate this issue through my own experiences as a pediatrician caring for children in my community?
- Is there a way I can write about this issue using a health equity lens?
- Most importantly, how can I use this op-ed to explain why it compels me to vote in November and why others should too?
Once you have thought through these questions and have a topic in mind – you are ready to start drafting! Below is some template framing text/messaging to help guide a draft:
- As a pediatrician in {city, state}, I plan to vote like children's futures depend on it in November.
- Introduce the topic of your op-ed and why it is especially important to consider right now.
- Share a patient story or example that humanizes the issue and explains how children in your community are impacted.
- Include a mention of data or a statistic or two from your state that highlights how children – beyond those you see in your practice/clinic/hospital – are affected.
- As a child health expert, reinforce why this issue matters you and why others should care about it.
- That is why I plan to use my opportunity in November to vote with children's needs in mind. Children can't vote, but I can. Voting is one of the main ways that we can affect policies and laws that impact our children, families and communities.
- There is so much is at stake for children's health, including {reference the issue you are focusing on}. Elected leaders must put children at the top of their agenda.
- Children's futures are shaped by the policies and laws that we have in place today, tomorrow and years to come – we must vote with that urgency in mind on November 3. Please join me! Make sure you are registered to vote and have a plan to cast your ballot. {Insert a reference to any voter registration deadlines if relevant}
- Children in {state} and across the country are counting on us. Vote like their futures depend on it.
Submitting your op-ed: Once you have initiated a draft op-ed, please contact us in the AAP Washington Office who can provide suggestions or feedback, answer any questions or provide assistance with pitching. Please note that many op-eds are considered “exclusive;” you can only submit your piece to one newspaper at a time. Should one publication decline to publish your piece, you can resubmit to another, but you should avoid sending your op-ed to several newspapers at once. There is no guarantee that your op-ed will be published.