When I was working at Newshub, the opinion inbox sat somewhere between opportunity and obligation. Submissions would come through most days, and I could usually tell within the first paragraph whether a piece was worth reading or whether it was going to be a press release with an opinion stapled to the front. The ones that got published had something in common, and it wasn't polish or a famous byline... it was that the person writing had something genuinely worth saying about something happening right now, and they said it clearly.
An op-ed is one of the most underused tools in New Zealand PR. In a media market this small, a single well-placed opinion piece can shift how an entire industry perceives you, establish you as the person journalists call when they need a comment on deadline, and create a piece of content that works harder than almost any other format. But most businesses either don't know the option exists, treat it like advertising disguised as journalism, or write something so lifeless that no editor would consider running it.
This is a guide to doing it properly.
What is an op-ed, and why should your business care?
An op-ed is an informed opinion from someone outside the publication, typically 600 to 1,000 words, arguing a clear position on something timely. The term comes from "opposite the editorial page," and the distinction matters: this isn't your blog, it isn't a press release, and it isn't a letter to the editor. It's your argument, in your voice, backed by evidence, published under your name by a masthead that decided your perspective was worth printing.
For businesses, the credibility that comes from a published opinion piece is difficult to replicate through other channels. Research consistently shows that 58% of business decision-makers read at least an hour of thought leadership content per week, and roughly 55% use it when vetting potential partners or suppliers. In New Zealand's relationship-driven commercial landscape, an op-ed published in the Herald, Newsroom, or BusinessDesk carries a weight that paid advertising simply cannot match, because someone independent decided your thinking was worth platforming.
There's also the AI dimension that most New Zealand businesses haven't considered yet. University of Toronto research found that 82 to 89 per cent of what AI systems cite comes from earned media coverage. A published op-ed on a credible news site becomes part of the training data for the systems that will increasingly shape how people discover your business, which means the value of a single well-written opinion piece extends well beyond the week it's published. We wrote about this shift in more detail in From Keywords to Conversations.
Where to publish an op-ed in New Zealand
New Zealand has a surprisingly robust ecosystem for opinion content, and each outlet has its own personality and audience.
NZ Herald is the country's largest daily, with a dedicated opinion section and regular guest columnists. Guest column submissions should be under 1,000 words. They publish a mix of political, business, social, and cultural commentary and are genuinely open to external contributors who have real expertise.
Stuff, including The Press, the Dominion Post, and the Sunday Star-Times, runs opinion content across their regional mastheads and main site. They tend to favour pieces that connect directly to issues their readers are experiencing, and they have strong reach in the South Island and lower North Island.
Newsroom is editorially independent and well-regarded among business, political, and policy audiences. They actively publish opinion and analysis from external voices, often with an industry or government focus, and tend to run slightly longer pieces when the content warrants it.
BusinessDesk is New Zealand's dedicated business news service, and a strong option if your piece has a clear commercial, economic, or market angle.
Don't overlook trade and industry publications either. An op-ed in a sector-specific outlet often reaches exactly the audience that matters most, with far less competition for column space.
What makes an op-ed publishable?
Two things, simultaneously, and this is where most submissions come apart: a news peg and an actual opinion. The news peg is your reason to exist right now, and it might be proposed legislation, an industry trend gaining momentum, a public controversy you have genuine insight into, or a seasonal moment that gives your argument context. Without a peg, your piece is an essay, and editors have far more essays than column inches. If you're unsure whether your angle qualifies, the same test we outline in Is It News? applies here: would a journalist care about this today, or is this something you could publish at any point in the next twelve months?
The opinion itself is harder, because it requires you to genuinely commit to a position. Not a carefully hedged "we believe collaboration is important" statement that could appear in any company's annual report, but a real argument that someone could reasonably disagree with. The strongest op-eds answer a clear question: this is what's happening, here's why it matters, here's what we should do about it, and here's what I know from experience that makes me worth listening to.
At Payper, when we ghostwrite opinion pieces for clients, the first conversation is almost always about finding the argument underneath the marketing message. Most founders have strong opinions about their industry, they just need someone to help them separate the insight from the sales pitch and give them permission to say it plainly.
How to structure an op-ed that works
The structure of a good opinion piece is simpler than most people expect, though executing it well takes more discipline than writing a press release.
Open with something that earns the next paragraph. A specific moment, a striking fact, a question the reader didn't know they had, or a scene that puts them in the middle of something concrete. What the opening should never be is a summary of everything you're about to say. The instinct to begin with sweeping context about your industry is strong, but it's almost always the wrong choice. The principles we covered in How to Tell Your Founder Story apply here too: specificity and honesty will carry you further than polish.
Make your argument early. By the end of the second or third paragraph, the reader should understand what you're arguing and why it matters. In journalism we call this not burying the lede, and it applies to opinion writing just as much as news reporting.
Support your argument with evidence that exists independently of your company. This is where credibility is won or lost. The best op-eds draw on external research, industry data, named examples, or historical context that a reader can verify for themselves. Personal anecdotes from your own experience are valuable too, as long as they're specific and honest rather than vehicles for self-promotion. When we worked with Kea Aerospace, their founder's willingness to talk candidly about the technical realities of high-altitude drone technology, rather than defaulting to marketing language, was exactly the kind of specificity that makes opinion writing credible.
Acknowledge the counterargument. Op-eds that engage with the other side of an issue are consistently more persuasive than those that pretend opposition doesn't exist. Muck Rack's 2026 State of Journalism report found that 40% of journalists now choose their own stories, which means they're selecting contributors who demonstrate genuine nuance rather than people handing them marketing dressed as insight.
End with a clear position, not a call to action. Your closing paragraph should leave the reader thinking, not reaching for their wallet. If you want to include your credentials and contact details, that's what the author bio at the bottom of the page is for.
Why do most business op-eds sound terrible?
The single biggest reason business op-eds get rejected is voice. They read like committee output, usually because they are. By the time the CEO's draft has passed through legal, marketing, the comms team, and possibly a board member with a few small tweaks, the original voice has been sanded into nothing. What remains is a collection of sentences that are technically accurate and completely without personality.
The best op-eds sound like one person talking. They have rhythm and personality, they use first person naturally, and they include the kind of details that only someone who has actually done the work would know. If you're writing your own piece, write it the way you'd explain your argument to a colleague over coffee, then tighten it for grammar and structure without removing the warmth. If you're working with a ghostwriter or PR agency, make sure they spend enough time listening to how you actually speak before they start putting words on the page.
Payper is a results-based PR agency in New Zealand where clients only pay when coverage lands, and op-eds are one of the tools we use alongside traditional media pitching, particularly for clients who have genuine expertise in their field and want to build long-term credibility rather than chase individual stories. We've found that the difference between a good op-ed and a genuinely compelling one almost always comes down to the specificity of the anecdotes the author provides: tell us about the phone call that changed your mind, the meeting where you realised the industry was heading in the wrong direction, the customer who said something that stuck with you for months. Those moments are what make an opinion piece sound like it was written by a real person rather than assembled from interchangeable parts.
How do you submit an op-ed in New Zealand?
Most New Zealand publications accept opinion submissions by email, and the process is more straightforward than people assume. Submit to one publication at a time, because editors take a dim view of simultaneous submissions and in a market this small they will find out. If you don't hear back within a week, it's generally safe to assume they've passed and you can try the next outlet on your list.
Include a brief pitch in your email covering who you are, why you're qualified to write on this topic, and what makes it timely. Three or four sentences is plenty, and the same principles from our guide to pitching journalists apply here. Paste the piece in the body of the email and attach it as a Word document as well.
Expect silence rather than rejection. Most publications won't write back to submissions they're not going to use. This is normal and it isn't personal.
Be available for edits and respond quickly when they come. If an opinion editor comes back with changes or questions, the relationship you build by being flexible and fast is worth far more than winning an argument about a subheading. Becoming a reliable contributor that an editor trusts to deliver clean, timely copy is how one op-ed turns into a regular column, and in a market with roughly 1,400 journalists covering the entire country, those relationships compound in ways that outbound pitching alone never can.
The mistakes that get op-eds rejected
Having sat on both sides of the opinion inbox, as the journalist receiving submissions and now as someone who helps clients write them, the same patterns show up consistently.
Writing a press release in op-ed clothing. If your piece reads like an announcement with opinions draped over it, it won't survive the first paragraph of an editor's read. The purpose of an op-ed is to argue a position, not announce a product.
No news peg. Timeless wisdom belongs on your company blog. Opinion editors need a reason to run your piece this week and not six months from now.
Being boring about something interesting. You might have a genuinely fascinating insight about your industry, but if you bury it under three paragraphs of context-setting and qualifications, nobody will reach it. Lead with your strongest point rather than saving it for a reveal at the end.
Failing to have an actual opinion. "We should all work together to solve this problem" is a sentiment. "The government's proposed regulation will damage the industry it claims to protect, and here's why" is an opinion. Editors want the second one.
Writing about yourself rather than your argument. Your business can appear in an op-ed, but it should never be the point of one. The moment a reader feels they're being sold to, you've lost them, and you've probably lost the editor as well.
An op-ed won't generate the immediate metrics of a press release or a media pitch, but a well-placed opinion piece builds something harder to measure and harder to replicate: the kind of credibility that makes journalists call you, investors take you seriously, and AI systems cite you as an authority. Brands like Evnex didn't build their media presence through big announcements alone, but through a sustained, multi-channel approach that included being consistently willing to share informed opinions about their industry. If you think you have something worth saying but aren't sure how to shape it, or where to place it, that's something we help with regularly.
Get in touch here and we'll give you a straight answer.