Berkeleyside will accept opinions for local races and measures in the Nov. 8 election.
There are two contested Berkeley City council races, competitive rent board and school board contests and three ballot items.
In the opinion section, Berkeleyside showcases how people feel about candidates, ballot measures and other issues. Readers often find these pieces informative, as shown by the many comments agreeing or disagreeing with the topics.
During the 2020 election, Berkeleyside decided to limit the publication of op-eds to two for each candidate and two for each ballot measure.
This year, we have decided to limit the number of opinion pieces to one op-ed in support of each candidate running in a competitive race and one op-ed both for and against each measure. The goal is to reduce the workload on our staff and avoid overwhelming readers.
New this year, we are also setting word counts of 500-600 words for all op-eds.
We are accepting submissions in support of candidates running for District 1 or District 8 on the city council; for candidates for Alameda County District Attorney; for rent board and school board; and for the AC Transit Board of Directors at-large race; as well as submissions in support or opposition to city ballot measures L, M and N.
Election-related op-eds must be received by Sept. 25. Berkeleyside will then select and publish the most compelling, well-written and well-argued pieces. We plan to run these by Oct. 10, when early and mail-in voting begins.
Between now and November, we will focus on running election-related op-eds, though we may occasionally publish pieces airing other important issues in our community.
What is Berkeleyside’s general policy on opinion pieces?
Berkeleyside publishes opinion pieces at our discretion. Submissions must be fact-based: Links and citations to substantiate arguments must be included. If you do not hear back, assume we have decided to pass. We generally do not publish opinions that have appeared elsewhere.
Local authors are preferred, and anonymity is not allowed. We cannot guarantee publication on a particular date. We will not run images with op-eds. Include your name, phone number, and a one-line bio with all relevant disclosures. Email submissions to opinion@berkeleyside.org.
