What's the deal with op-eds?

Last week it was Putin, this week it was McCain ... today, it's the president of Iran (Rouhani). For the record, I miss Balky because I could make comments about Perfect Stranger, but anywhoo ... back to op-eds.

Why the sudden influx of op-eds? Does no one want to throw a video up on YouTube?

After listening to a few people (not co-workers) talk about op-eds, it made me wonder if people actually understood the definition of an op-ed.  To clear it up, an op-ed is not:

• An endorsement by a publication of an idea 
• An endorsement by a country of an idea 
• The thoughts of the people 

An op-ed is a paid vehicle where high profile people / companies go to explain a situation.  In the case of Putin, the op-ed was put in place by a PR firm, Ketchum. No clue about McCain's or Rohani's but I'm going to assume there was some slick, silk suit wearing PR person behind the scenes. The reason for the education is that I've heard so many head-scratching definitions / thoughts behind the op-eds that its made me laugh out loud ... mainly b/c they are a tool I've used (in the past) for work.   

So now that the education is over ... the op-eds are kinda entertaining.  I love how everyone is getting excited, angry and frustrated over them.  They are a speech placed into words in a paper. I also find it more amusing that said politicians don't put up a YouTube, FB or Instagram video. Clearly, they didn't want their voice heard or else they would have gone to social media instead of a dying medium that has a paid subscription base online. 

So that's my political / education rant for the month. I'm going back to bad political commentary and sports comments.