An editorial is an opinion piece written by the senior editorial staff or publisher of a newspaper or magazine. Editorials are usually unsigned and may be supposed to reflect the opinion of the periodical. In the UK, these unsigned columns are known as "leading articles". In Australian and major United States newspapers, such as the New York Times[1] and the Boston Globe,[2] editorials are often classified under the heading "opinion".
Editorials may also be in the form of editorial cartoons.[3]
Typically, a newspaper's editorial board evaluates which issues are important for their readership to know the newspaper's opinion.[4]
Editorials are typically published on a special page dedicated to them, called the editorial page, which often also features letters to the editor from members of the public; the page opposite this page is called the op-ed page and frequently contains opinion pieces by writers not directly affiliated with the publication. However, a newspaper may choose to publish an editorial on the front page. In most English language press, this is done only rarely and on topics considered especially important; however, it is more common in some European countries such as Italy and France.[5]
In the field of fashion publishing especially, the term has been adapted to usually refer to photo-editorials in particular – features with often full-page photographs on a particular theme, designer, model or other single topic, with or (as a photo-essay) without accompanying text.