OtherWords

OtherWords is a free, non-profit editorial service published by the Institute for Policy Studies. Each week, OtherWords distributes a batch of publication-ready op-eds, along with a cartoon, to thousands of readers — including hundreds of editors of small and medium-sized newspapers. Each year, these op-eds appear thousands of times in local newspapers throughout the country, as well as in a growing number of online outlets. We believe that strong social movements need informed citizens, and that people learn best from conversations in their own communities — neighbor-to-neighbor. But between a consolidated, corporate-controlled mass media and a deafening social media echo chamber, it’s gotten harder than ever to have these conversations, especially in smaller communities with few local media options.

Through OtherWords, we’re able to provide millions of readers in America’s heartland with intelligent commentary on a range of progressive causes — on climate, inequality, war and peace, the movements for race and gender justice, and beyond. Through the trusted local papers that use our service, we reach readers in red, blue, and purple states alike with well-written, timely commentaries on the national issues that affect their lives. To read our work or get information about publishing it in your community, check out OtherWords.org.

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Latest Work

Paving the Road to a Hungrier, Unhealthier, and Less-Educated Nation

Massive spending cuts will make the future bleaker for millions of Americans.

Separate but Unequal Borrowers

A proposed mortgage qualification rule could end home ownership as we know it.

McDiabetes: Top Docs Tell McDonald’s To Stop Marketing Junk

One in three kids is at risk for developing type 2 diabetes as a result of diets high in McDonald’s-style junk food.

Sideshow Candidate

One well-rehearsed performance in a single debate shouldn’t wipe out the memory of Michele Bachmann’s long public career filled with absurd misstatements of fact and bizarre conspiracy theories.

Big Coal Buys Access to 4th Graders

Schools shouldn’t aid this kind of predatory marketing.

War Criminal? Not Me Boss!

What’s a war crime and what’s not depends on who wins, who controls the International Criminal Court, and who controls the press.

Austerity Draft

Be all the cannon fodder you can be!

Global Victory for Domestic Workers

The United States should be a leader and ratify the ILO’s historic new convention.

The Lineup: Week of June 13-19, 2011

Wenonah Hauter calls for a ban on gas “fracking” and Jim Hightower miraculously finds the humor in the GOP’s efforts to kill Medicare.

Blowing the Whistle

IPS co-founder Marcus Raskin helped whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg release the Pentagon Papers.

No Fracking Way

In addition to poisoning our water, homes, and bodies, fracking is eroding the quality of life in rural America.

America Shouldn’t Scrimp on Food Safety

Gambling with the nation’s food safety isn’t a sound way to rein in government spending.

Enough Budget Slashing, Let’s Flip

A powerful solution to state deficits is to invert each state’s tax structure.

Stay Healthy

There are a thousand ways to die and every one of them has a lobbyist working for it in Washington. You are the only lobbyist working for No. 1.

The GOP’s Medicare Lies

Understandably, the public is now angry at Rep. Ryan and his Republican cohorts.

Dr. Toughlove

Speaking of death panels, check out the GOP Medicare reform plan.

Segregation Still Strong 150 Years after the Civil War Began

Maybe racial discrimination will truly fade someday, but don’t count on it for now.

Newt’s Campaign Implosion

Gingrich proves again that “his friends hate him.”

Pawlenty’s Tax Proposal Caters to the Richest Americans

He sure knows how to mark an anniversary

Explosive Nuclear Spending

How about shifting the $1 trillion per decade the world spends on nuclear weapons to more important priorities?