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Meet the Star鈥檚 editorial board

Bruce Campion-Smith

bcsmith@thestar.ca

416-869-4300

Bruce Campion-Smith is the editor of the Star鈥檚 editorial page. Most recently responsible for the accuracy and integrity of 91原创 Star journalism as Public Editor, Bruce previously worked in the Ottawa bureau covering federal politics and policy and events on Parliament Hill. He has travelled with prime ministers to global summits such as G20 and G8 meetings, covered six federal elections and, on the international scene, the White House and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has also worked as assistant city editor, editorial writer, transportation reporter and general assignment reporter. He holds a commercial pilot licence and has written four books on aviation.

Scott Colby

scolby@thestar.ca

416-869-4300

Scott Colby has been the Star鈥檚 oped page editor since May 2016. He joined the Star in 1998 and has held many positions, including front page editor, city news assignment editor and parenting columnist. He has also worked at the Hamilton Spectator, Southam News Parliamentary Bureau, Kingston Whig-Standard, Thunder Bay鈥檚 Chronicle-Journal and the London Free Press. He holds a history degree from the University of Western Ontario. He co-wrote with NHL hockey dad Karl Subban the national bestselling book, How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life.

Submit an Opinion article for consideration

Thank you for your interest in The Star.

If you want to submit an opinion article for consideration, please send it to oped@thestar.ca.

We consider commentaries of 500 to 650 words on current affairs, with an emphasis on Canadian issues. We tend not to print personal essays or broadly themed philosophical, religious or historical articles. We also print very little in the way of humour or satire.

Writers must include their credentials and are expected to have expertise in the area they are discussing. If you have an involvement in or connection with an issue that is not apparent from your credentials or the content of the article, you must disclose that to the Star.

Please include a recent colour head-and-shoulders photo with your submission and a mailing address. All contributors whose articles are selected for publication will be asked to sign a freelance agreement giving the Star the right to publish the material online or in other formats.

Be aware that we receive dozens of submissions a week and can print only a few. We try to inform contributors within 48 hours whether we are interested in printing their articles, but it can be longer when volume is particularly heavy.

As for style and approach, please keep these points in mind:

Be topical. Make clear near the beginning of the piece why you鈥檙e writing it now. Does your argument relate to something in the news? Does it expose a trend? The answer to the question 鈥淲hy now?鈥 should be evident.

Be fair. Don鈥檛 ignore your opponents鈥 point of view or mischaracterize it. Don鈥檛 engage with only the flimsiest counter-arguments. Don鈥檛 demonize or diminish those you鈥檙e criticizing. Imagine what the smartest critic might say about your piece and take those arguments on 鈥 that鈥檚 where things get interesting and illuminating.

Keep your audience in mind. Remember that you鈥檙e not writing for your classmates, your colleagues, your friends. You鈥檙e writing for a general audience. Assume your reader is intelligent but not necessarily knowledgeable on the issue. Provide enough context so a person who knows nothing about the subject can understand your argument and why it matters. Don鈥檛 use jargon or overly obscure or formal language.

Add to the conversation. If the topic of your piece has already been widely discussed in the media, make sure you鈥檙e adding new information or a new line of argument to the conversation.

Stick to the word limit. For us, that鈥檚 about 725 words, which is longer than at most newspapers. Word limits are not arbitrary and won鈥檛 be ignored even for exceptional pieces. Space in print 鈥 and attention spans online 鈥 are finite. More can be said in 700 words than one might think.