New York Times Op-ed Page and How It Works: David Shipley, Mary Duenwald, and Mr Gerapolis, etc

So, it appears that David Shipley, the editor of the Op-Ed page, says that writers do not send in oped pieces cold calling, and if they do those oped pieces are almost never accepted and returned unread, but VIP writers are commissioned to write the opeds after the Times asks them to....... and they are paid for their work too. From US$500 to US$1000 or more, depending on their VIPness......

Mary Duenwald, one of Shipley’s two deputies, says that ideas come out of meetings in which editors discuss possible columns to commission from VIPS and people in the news with recognizable names, never nobodies. Topics and names are suggested. 99 percent of all Times opeds happen this way....

So the Times opeds are hardly democratically selected pieces. Par for the course? Fore!